The Normalizing Education Collective is a Jobs for the Future facilitated peer network of institutional partners who are building or expanding high quality postsecondary education in prison programs and pathways that lead to opportunities for economic advancement. This group will facilitate connecting with peers in between convenings, and will be the platform for asking questions and sharing best practices, tools, and resources with other members of the Collective.
Group Content
How to Sow the Seeds of Postsecondary Success in Prison
"While there are unquestionably good and decent people at every level of corrections, just as there are people who resist change based on their oppressive mindsets, there are many people whose actions are only as good as the system will allow them to be."
Check out this article by Will Anderson, who is currently incarcerated in Minnesota Correctional Facility-Faribault, as they offer postsecondary leaders advice about overcoming challenges they may face when launching college programs in corrections facilities.
LINK TO ARTICLE: https://info.jff.org/normalizingeducation/how-to-sow-the-seeds-of-postsecondary-success-in-prison
Hello from EJP's Policy & Research Director
Hello! My name is Ashton Hoselton (she/hers) and I am the Policy & Research Director for the Education Justice Project, a unit of the University of Illinois and a college-in-prison program. Since 2008, EJP has provided academic programming to men at Danville Correctional Center, a medium-security, Illinois state facility.
I look forward to learning from and collaborating with this group!
Gender Inequity in Prison Education Limits Opportunity
Investments in education programs for students who are incarcerated have increased, but gender inequities in access persist. Seven women share first-person accounts of the challenges of studying while incarcerated.
How to Sow the Seeds of Postsecondary Success in Prison
Will Anderson, who is currently incarcerated in Minnesota Correctional Facility-Faribault, offers postsecondary leaders advice about overcoming challenges they may face when launching college programs in corrections facilities.
Education and Work Inspire Change for People Who Are Incarcerated
This article from Jobs for the Future was written by Shaun Libby, who was formerly incarcerated and was enrolled in the Maine State Prison college program. The author states that "investing in prison education and work opportunities inspires hope, prepares residents for reentry, and reduces recidivism while also fostering positive improvements in prison culture."
A First-Person Look at Second Chances: Breaking Barriers to Education and Employment in Prison
This resource follows Alexa Garza’s journey through the walls of prison education and the maze of reintegration struggles, as she shares insights on breaking barriers and advocating for second chances.
Data Use Agreements
To have consistent access to relevant DOC data on students who are incarcerated, postsecondary institutions should establish data use agreements (DUAs), also known as data sharing agreements (DSAs), with their DOC partners. This brief breaks down the basics of establishing a DUA.
Program Evaluation
This brief describes the factors to consider when planning an evaluation of a postsecondary education in prison program. Evaluations are critical tools for assessing whether a program has been implemented as intended and equitably, informing program development or improvements, and assessing the effects of a program on student outcomes.
Ethical Data Collection
People who are incarcerated have historically been vulnerable to exploitation in research. This brief highlights resources on best practices for researchers to protect the autonomy, privacy, and rights of individuals who are incarcerated.
From Web to Work: How a Tech Ed Program Helps People Prepare to Leave Prison
This article discusses results published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and University of Massachusetts Lowell of a two-year study of Brave Behind Bars, MIT's web design program for incarcerated students. The qualitative study evaluated the effects of teaching HTML and JavaScript to incarcerated students, highlighting a notable increase in their self-confidence and digital competencies—key factors in reducing recidivism, or the rate at which people who are released return to prison.
