ERIC Number: EJ1185222
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Sep
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-0740-2708
EISSN: N/A
Performance and Beliefs: Two Assessments of Literacy Learners in Prison, Part II
Muth, Bill; Sturtevant, Elizabeth; Pannozzo, Gina
Journal of Correctional Education, v68 n2 p62-81 Sep 2017
This is Part II of a two-part report on an assessment strategy used with incarcerated literacy learners. As described in Part I, the strategy employed a traditional set of reading tests as well as open-ended interviews. Two stances--increasingly reconciled in the reading community--framed this assessment: (a) a post-positivist stance that promotes a normed, component-level assessment of reading; and (b) a socialconstructivist one that attends to incarcerated learners' beliefs that anchor instruction. This framework respected the value commitments of each worldview. The study reports two sets of findings--about learners' reading patterns and beliefs--and then discusses two methods, pragmatic and dialectical, used to juxtapose and relate the findings across paradigms. Though time consuming, the study found this approach provided a way to (a) transcend normative-personal dualisms, (b) provide a check on over reliance of pet theories, and (c) cultivate a critical stance toward prison education. Due to length, the study is reported in two parts. Part II, presented here, includes the qualitative findings and a discussion on the ways, and merits, of juxtaposing two ways of knowing about incarcerated literacy learners. [For Part I, "Performance and Beliefs: Two Assessments of Literacy Learners in Prison, Part I," see EJ1185220.]
Descriptors: Institutionalized Persons, Correctional Education, Correctional Institutions, Literacy Education, Beliefs, Reading Habits, Individual Characteristics, Reading Skills, Attitude Measures, Adults, Questionnaires, Statistical Analysis, Reading Instruction, Adult Education, Environmental Influences
Correctional Education Association. 8182 Lark Brown Road Suite 202, Elkridge, MD 21075. Tel: 443-459-3080; Fax: 443-459-3088; e-mail: ceaoffice@aol.com; Web site: http://www.ceanational.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A