Prison Education Research Project. Final Report.

Overview & Synopsis

More than 60 studies on prison education were reviewed to determine the following: relationship between prison education and offender behavior; effects of prison population control strategies on prison education programs; and effects of academic and vocational program participation on inmate misconduct and reincarceration. Among the main findings were the following: (1) inmates exposed to education programs have lower recidivism rates than do nonparticipants; (2) most vocational programs in prison reported lower recidivism rates, lower parole revocation rates, better postrelease employment patterns, and better institutional disciplinary records for participants than for nonparticipants; and (3) factors associated with higher program success rates include keeping the program separate from the rest of prison routine, providing follow-up after release, identifying and attracting a target population, and providing marketable vocational skills. An examination of the prison population control strategies and correctional education program provided by Texas' Windham School System established the following: recent prison population control strategies have virtually closed the window of opportunity for inmates in educational and vocational programs; the system's academic programming had the greatest effects on inmates at the lower grade levels; and the system's vocational programs have modest reincarceration effects. (Contains 108 references, 27 additional publications, not discussed in Chapter 1, and 14 tables.) (MN)