Presented Case Studies Examining Distance-Based Higher Education in Prison Programming and Implementation

• In Event: Lightning Talk: Reentry: Prison Programs and Community Supervision

Abstract

People incarcerated throughout the U.S. have historically lacked sufficient access to quality educational opportunities before entering prison, while in prison, and upon release – and this insufficient access is unequal for people from marginalized racial and gender identities (Rampey et al, 2016, Couloute, 2018). Educational opportunity in prison is limited overall (Davis, 2019), and further limited for individuals with behavioral infractions, those serving longer sentences, or based on the type of crime committed (Pearson & Heckert, 2020). Distance education may provide an opportunity to greatly expand access to college in prison while teaching the digital and other life skills that are increasingly necessary for work and life success outside prison. It may also promote access in cases where in-person instruction is not an option (Burke, 2020; Tanaka & Cooper, 2020). Fortunately, the broader education field has been working to improve distance education practices, including innovations that improve instructor-student, peer-to-peer, and a range of engagement supports. (Briggs et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2007; Stewart et al., 2010). The Distance Education in Prisons study examined these practices as implemented by four prison-based higher education programs in Wisconsin, Maine, and Tennessee, and this talk presents findings from that study.

Authors

• Heather Erwin, AIR

• Charrise Hollingsworth, American Institutes for Research