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Locked up and Locked Out: an Educational Perspective on the U.S. Prison Population

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Locked up and Locked Out: an Educational Perspective on the U.S. Prison Population Policy Information Report Locked Up and Locked Out: An Educational Perspective on the U.S. Prison Population Listening. Learning. Leading. This report was written by: Richard J. Coley Paul E. Barton Educational Testing Service Table of Contents The views expressed in this report Preface .......................................................................................................... 2 are those of the authors and do not necessarily refl ect the views of the Acknowledgments ........................................................................................ 2 offi cers and trustees of Educational Highlights ..................................................................................................... 3 Testing Service. Introduction ................................................................................................. 5 Additional copies of this report can be ordered for $15 (prepaid) from: The Exploding Prison Population .............................................................. 7 Policy Information Center The Juvenile Detention System ................................................................. 11 Mail Stop 19-R The Prison Education Enterprise ............................................................. 13 Educational Testing Service What Prison Education and Training Programs Accomplish ................. 19 Rosedale Road Princeton, NJ 08541-0001 Prisoner Re-Entry Programs: A Recent Response ................................... 22 (609) 734-5949 The Children of Prisoners ......................................................................... 24 [email protected] The Special Case of the Black Male .......................................................... 27 Copies can be downloaded from: www.ets.org/research/pic Conclusion .................................................................................................. 30 Copyright © 2006 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. Educational Testing Service is an Affi rmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Educational Testing Service, ETS, and the ETS logo are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service. February 2006 Policy Evaluation and Research Center Policy Information Center Educational Testing Service 1 Preface In this important and sobering report, Richard J. Coley In the face of this demonstrated need, we should be and Paul E. Barton provide a broad perspective on the alarmed that we are losing ground in the prison educa- U.S. prison population and offer judgments about the tion enterprise; investment in correctional education status of prison education programs. programs is not keeping pace with the exploding popu- lation of prisoners. Coley and Barton issue a challenge The prison education enterprise is perhaps more for society to support this important investment and to important now than ever, as the prison population acknowledge the plight of prisoners’ children — children surges and evidence accumulates about the effective- whose chances of following in their parents’ footsteps ness of prison education programs on recidivism. Yet are high, unless we have the will to break the cycle. this population continues to be under-educated, with most prisoners having less than a high school educa- tion. Ever-larger numbers of ex-prisoners are returning Michael T. Nettles to their communities poorly prepared to re-enter the Vice President workforce and, as a result, to support themselves and Policy Evaluation and their families, or to form families and rear children. Research Center It is a formula for disaster — for more crime, more recidivism, and greater cost to society. Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank the following individuals for feedback on the report, the reviewers provided valuable their help with this report. The report was reviewed guidance on the data that are available to address this by John Linton, Offi ce of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, topic. The report was edited by Janet Levy and proof- U.S. Department of Education; Caroline Wolf Harlow, read by Alex Dering. Marita Gray was the photographer Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Jus- and designer for the cover. Christina Guzikowski pro- tice; and Stephen J. Steurer, Executive Director, Correc- vided layout. Errors of fact or interpretation are those tional Education Association. In addition to providing of the authors. 2 Highlights This report brings together data and information from • Strike Two — Employers are looking for a variety of sources to provide an educational perspec- employees who have had steady and successful tive on the nation’s prison population. It examines work experiences, even for low-skilled jobs. Ex- the size and nature of that population and provides prisoners disproportionately don’t have them. information on trends when possible. The report also • Strike Three — Many jobs are “off limits” to describes the limited information that is available on ex-prisoners. the prison education enterprise and summarizes what is known about the effects of education and training Some prisons place soon-to-be-released prison- on recidivism. Finally, it provides a perspective on the ers in short-term “prisoner re-entry” programs. children whose development and lives are negatively While such programs are welcome and may be affected by incarceration and on the plight of young effective, there is a need to buttress them with Black males, who are increasingly coming into contact solid, longer-term programs. with the correctional system. There is minimal state data on prisoner educa- Some highlights of the report are provided below: tion regarding enrollments, completions, degrees received, test scores, etc. The size of the prison population continues to ex- plode, even as the crime rate shrinks. Data available for 1993-94 show huge dispari- ties among the states in many dimensions of The rate of incarceration has surged, more the correctional education enterprise. Federal than doubling from 313 per 100,000 people and state justice, corrections, and education in 1985 to 726 in 2004. Over the same period, departments must collaborate to get the data victimizations data show a fairly dramatic and needed to judge the reach and effectiveness of steady decrease in crime. A variety of explana- prison education and training programs. tions are given for this seeming paradox. While punishment is wholly appropriate for crimi- Prisons bulge with poorly educated inmates, and nals, it is not appropriate for the more than 1.5 as this population grows, the related investment in million children of prisoners, who are most dis- education and training is not keeping pace. served by the corrections system. This low and declining investment contrasts Neglecting these unintended victims will likely with an increasing body of research showing lead to these children replacing their parents in that education and training programs can raise the prisons of the future. employment prospects and cut recidivism. The incarceration of young Black males — particu- The public is realizing that bulging prisons also larly high school dropouts — has reached levels mean that large numbers of ex-prisoners will that jeopardize the achievement of broader social- return to their communities with three strikes justice goals. against them for getting a job — an essential step to going straight. The incarceration rate for Black 25- to 29- year-old males, for example, is 13 percent, Longer sentences or not, most prisoners come compared with 2 percent of the White and 4 back to the community. Hindered by the fol- percent of the Hispanic populations in that age lowing barriers, ex-prisoners are less likely to group. For young Black males without a high become self-supporting — and therefore, less school diploma, about as many are in prison as likely to succeed in society: are employed. • Strike One — Ex-inmates with little educa- It is estimated that more than half of all Black tion and low literacy levels are not desired by males who do not have a high school diploma employers. have a prison record, compared to one in 10 3 White males. The dire employment prospects of Black male dropouts affect the likelihood for success in marriage, child rearing, and ensur- ing that the next generation helps to close the achievement gap. While in prison, inmates have time to obtain their high school diplomas, train for a job, and prepare to earn a living when they return to their communities. Prisons should provide such opportunities and push for prisoners to take advantage of them. While this country has not ratcheted up its invest- ments in correctional education while adopting a “get tough on crime” approach, it must recognize that providing prisoners with the education and job skills they need to stay out of prison can save scarce resources in the long run. The “chain gang” was tough physically; the “learning gang” requires hard mental effort and discipline. The public suffered when the prisoner’s original crime was committed; the potential for damage increases when the prisoner returns to society without a means of making it in the employment world. 4 Introduction The fi rst true American prison was the Walnut Street prospered. When rehabilitation has been out of favor, Jail in Philadelphia, created by the Quakers in 1791. prison education has languished. The use of education The prison had three objectives: to ensure public secu- and training in prisons spread in the 1930s, receded, rity, reformation of prisoners, and “humanity toward and then came back into favor in the 1960s.
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