The goal of this study was to determine whether adult students incarcerated at a large correctional facility in New England use the provided scientific calculator appropriately when taking the Official GED Practice Test in mathematics. 13 students were interviewed after taking a practice test and asked for their strategy for solving each problem.…

This study examines qualitative and quantitative data from a fifteen-week experiential course held in a county jail. The course was modeled after the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, and included college students and people who were incarcerated at the time. Survey data and comments gleaned from student papers were used to assess the impact of…

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact of a word study literacy approach on the spelling ability and self-efficacy of adults in a county jail. Forty-four inmates participated in the word study intervention that provided them with hands-on learning. The word study intervention was conducted in four separate sessions (September,…

Meaningful professional development (PD) for correctional educators is not frequently addressed, though they work with students who are most at-risk in terms of academic success. In addition to the challenges that the students themselves face, there are obstacles inherent in administering educational programs in correctional facilities whose goals…

Research on incarceration and educational access continues to reveal the stark reality for many adjudicated youth: without access to educational opportunities recidivism is probable. Yet conventional methods of teaching critical reading, writing, and thinking skills are not always successful for juveniles who have found little success (or hope) in…

In many U.S. prisons an overuse of individualized instruction silences literacy learners and reinforces oppressive notions about what knowledge is and whose knowledge counts. In these classrooms, methods that invite learners to tap their background knowledge, reflect on their worlds, and dialogue with others to construct meaning--commonplace in…

This article is a sequel to previous "Journal of Correctional Education" articles providing teaching strategy suggestions for correctional educators. The self actualized correctional educator employs teaching strategies which do not rely on the correctional institution for implementation. Thus, he/she is freed from bureaucratic and custody issues,…

The purpose of this article is to connect theories Austin MacCormick discussed in his 1931 book "The Education of Adult Prisoners" with examples from modern correctional education practice. The author began teaching an institutional plumbing class in 2000, equipped with an undergraduate degree in elementary education and a master's degree in…

This article explains and analyzes the practical application of the Socratic method in the context of inmate education, and identifies core critical thinking elements that emerge from four transcribed Socratic discussions with prison inmates. The paper starts with a detailed examination of the stages of the Socratic method as practiced by the…

Recent information on the incidence and types of language and communication problems experienced by female delinquents and the relation they have to emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) indicate a contribution to the problems these girls have encountered in social and academic situations. Pragmatics (i.e., use of language in interpersonal…

Nine women, representing a range of ages, ethnic identities, and educational levels, who were completing detention sentences in a halfway house setting in the Midwest were interviewed to gain insight into their perceptions of education. The researcher found that the women consistently spoke about what makes a teacher "good". Some of the…

Research shows that those who are incarcerated, as a whole, have come from difficult past environments. This leads to having a different way of learning than most others who have had successful educational experiences. Because of this, my research project focused on exploring storytelling/narrative, as a teaching strategy, and how it influences…

The current paper provides a description of instructional approaches for teaching mathematics to secondary students with learning disabilities (LD) and emotional disturbance (ED) within juvenile correctional schools. Recommendations for math instruction are based on a comprehensive review of the literature and examples are provided from an urban…

This article reports that the 11th European Prison Education Association International Conference will take place in Dublin, Ireland from June 13 to June 17, 2007. The conference, which was titled "Learning for Liberation," will focus on the exploration of what adult education can offer prison/correctional education. This article also presents the…

The need for English as a Second Language (ESL) programs is growing in many correctional populations. Little information for correctional educators regarding effective practices for non-native speakers of English is available. Although concerns that exist for the mainstream correctional education population are similar to those for ESL students,…