Corrections Education. Public Hearings. Special Report.

Overview & Synopsis

This report contains a condensation and highlights of public hearings held by the Illinois State Advisory Council on Adult, Vocational and Technical Education (SACVE) and the Illinois Employment and Training Council (IETC) on the subject of correctional education in the state. During the hearings on this topic, 100 witnesses testified. The report is organized in four parts. The contents of Part 1 were provided to the SACVE by staff of the Corrections School District #428. The information includes not only descriptive characteristics of programs and participants, but also descriptions of the role of and some of the concerns for educational programs within correctional facilities. Part 2 contains testimony received at public hearings relative to vocational education and adult education in correctional facilities. The testimony includes presentations made by educators in correctional institutions, by both present and former residents of correctional facilities, and by outside persons who coordinate programs with corrections programs. Part 3, which identified several research needs of corrections education, is a copy of testimony presented by the Correctional Education Association to the National Institute of Justice. The final part of the report is a dialogue among SACVE council members and corrections staff and inmates, held at a correctional facility. (KC)