United States Department of Education Update

Journal of Correctional Education, Sep 2005 by Linton, John

One challenge of doing an "update" in a journal is the significant time lag between submission and publication. At a time of rapid change, the "update" is at risk of being an "outdate." But I'll do the best I can...

Legislation has been introduced in Congress to significantly revise the provisions of the Workplace and Community Transition Training for Incarcerated Youth Offender Program. This is one of two direct grant programs that Carlette Huntley and I work on as a major portion of our daily responsibilities here at ED. This program supports post-secondary education instruction and related services for State inmates within certain age and sentence guidelines. Proposed changes include the liberalizations of several restrictions in the current program. The maximum age of eligible participants would increase, as well as the per person spending caps. Additionally, provisions governing related services would change for students during confinement and for the post-release period. The program's reporting and evaluation requirements would also change significantly.

Other congressional actions currently pending include the appropriations for education programs, including those involving correctional education. Senate appropriations language may impact the Department's organizational structure related to correctional education support. Also, the funding of another round of Life Skills for State and Local Prisoners grants is very problematic at this point. We may or may not be funded to offer a new round of competitive grants next summer. We may or may not be affiliated next year with the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, as we are now.

Interest in post secondary education and offender populations continues to increase and take various forms. The Ford Foundation funded study undertaken by the Institute for Higher Education Policy is expected to result in a highly awaited publication this fall. This document will be one in a series on the ability of certain population groups to access post secondary education in our Nation. A congressional committee took up the matter of restoring federal financial aide eligibility to certain offender populations this July. While it was discussed and considered, the committee ultimately voted not to move the proposal forward. Congress also is continuing a rare substantive discussion of issues related to prisoner rehabilitation as part of its deliberation of the proposed "second Chance Act."

Some interesting publications are on the horizon. In addition to the Institute for Higher Education Policy report mentioned above, we've heard mention of work under way at ETS to revise and update the 1997 publication "Captive Students." That had been a well informed an influential publication, so a new version would be most welcome.

The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) was built as an enhancement and update of the 1992 National Assessment of Literacy Survey (NALS). Like the 1992 assessment, the NAAL included a prisoner sample. NAAL instrumentation also included certain enhancements to the NALS instruments including an expanded background questionnaire, a special assessment of the lowest literate adults, and an assessment of health literacy. Both the national report and the prisons report are eagerly awaited. How does today's larger State and federal prison populations perform on literacy assessments compared to their counterparts in similar facilities more than ten years ago? Do today's prisoners have a significantly different literacy profile? The 1992 NALS assessment generated the information included in the important 1994 publication "Literacy Behind Prison Walls" which is still frequently cited in discussions of prisoners' educational profiles and needs. The new assessment results will tell us whether that seminal volume needs a major revision.

Our work with MPR Associates on a data project for correctional education nears an important milestone. Earlier phases identified available national information, and the sources of that information. Informants from State and federal agencies are working together with the MPR staff to identify and define the needed information to fill critical gaps. A publication is nearing completion that will catalog the key policy issues related to correctional education data, and which will also provide a model data dictionary including definitions of core program data. This publication is anticipated before year's end. We see this as an important step toward improving our ability to describe the current status of correctional education in State prisons.