A Qualitative Study of Student Learning Experiences in the Los Angeles County Juvenile Court Schools System

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: A New Landscape: Rethinking Education Models for Incarcerated Youth

Abstract

This study seeks to advance limited scholarship that explores learning experiences for young people who are incarcerated by focusing on two juvenile camps in Los Angeles County. Drawing on critical ecological systems theory, this qualitative study utilizes student and staff interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis to examine student experiences coin the court schools. The study finds that while stakeholders across education, probation, and mental health work in tandem to advance the educational trajectory of students and their transitions back to their community, the ways in which different agencies attend to students can sometimes vary and contradict. Additionally, despite declining student enrollment, the social and emotional needs of students is becoming increasingly complex and challenging without common student support strategies across agencies.

Authors

• Annie Le, Stanford University

• Julio Ángel Alicea, Rutgers University - Camden

• Kacy Martin, University of California - Los Angeles

• Conor Sasner, First Focus on Children