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PRINCETON, N.J. (March 18, 1996) - As prison education programs
are being cut, a disturbing new study on the education and
literacy of America's prisoners shows that one-third are likely
to fail at simple tasks such a using a map, and two-thirds would
have difficulty writing a letter to explain a billing
error,threatening their ability to function in society, according
to Educational Testing Service.
Captive Students: Education and Training in America's Prisons is
the first comprehensive study that looks at the literacy skills
of persons incarcerated in state and federal prisons, the
training and education programs offered to such inmates and the
impact of these efforts on recidivism.
"Most of the people in America's prisons will eventually be
paroled yet two-thirds don't have the literacy skills needed to
function in society," explained Nancy Cole, president of ETS.
"While studies show that training and education in prisons lead
to increased post-release success in the job market, at least
half of all state correctional institutions have cut their inmate
education programs during the last five years. It is
counterproductive to crime prevention to have people released
from prison who are lacking in the most fundamental skills for
employment and citizenship."
"Our study shows that a large proportion of the prisoner
population is weak in using printed materials of the kind
encountered in work places and daily life," explained co-author
Paul Barton, director of ETS's Policy Information Center.
"One-third of prisoners at Level 1 (the lowest on a five-point
scale)were unlikely to be able to do tasks such as finding an
intersection on a map, filling out an application for a Social
Security card, or calculating the cost of a purchase. Another
third at Level 2 were unlikely to be able to write a letter
explaining a billing error or figure out miles per gallon using
information from a mileage record chart."
Other findings include:
Only 4 to 7 percent attained the two highest
literacy levels on the scales.
One-third of all Black men in their 20s are under
the supervision of the criminal justice system
on any given day. Five years ago that figure was
one-quarter.
While corrections spending has grown dramatically at
the state level, education budgets have not.
California and Florida will each spend $2 billion for new
prisons in the next few years.
The most common finding of 20 years of research is that
inmates exposed to education programs are more
likely to be employed and less likely to end up
back in prison than nonparticipants.
Among states who do offer education programs, New York and
Texas spent the most for education ($50 and $40.7
million,respectively). Montana, Alaska and Wisconsin spent
the least(less than $500,000).
The findings on literacy were drawn from the National Adult
Literacy Survey and were based on in-person interviews with
27,000 respondents in prisons and homes across the country and
gauged the prose, document and quantitative literacy of
prisoners.
"The crime rate has basically been flat over the last 20 years or
so, but incarcerations are up," explained co-author Richard
Coley. "As prison education approaches have waxed and waned, the
flow into the prison system has changed from a steadily rising
stream to a torrent overflowing the banks of prison capacity.
"Now, cuts in education programs are leaving many prisoners
unable to learn skills that would help them lead normal lives. In
fact 37 states said there was a waiting list in their systems for
services. With so many of our young adults incarcerated, and such
a large proportion of minority youth, are we comfortable with
their overall low levels of literacy?"
Captive Students: Education and Training in America's Prisons is
available for $9.50 prepaid. Make your check or money order
payable to ETS Policy Information Center. Send requests to ETS
Policy Information Center (04-R), Rosedale Road, Princeton,NJ
08541-0001. For additional information call 609-734-5694 or
contact via e-mail at pic@ets.org.
ETS is the world's largest private educational measurement
institution and a leader in educational research. It develops and
administers achievement, occupational and admission tests,such as
the SAT for the College Board, for clients in
education,government and business. ETS has six regional offices
and annually administers 9 million exams worldwide.
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