tag: Ascendium Education Group

As both the owner and operator of correctional facilities and the official oversight entity for higher education in prison programming, it is up to departments of correction to determine what technology to make available for education on the inside. This means that correctional leaders are responsible for considering security and safety as well as educational best practices. There is little research on how to negotiate these, at times differing, value sets. As a result, there are very few…

The reinstatement of Pell Grant funding for people who are incarcerated presents a dramatic opportunity for learners in prison, but it also poses a complex challenge. As more educational programs become available for individuals in prison, it’s essential that departments of corrections (DOCs) and higher education in prison programs are able to measure program effectiveness, quality, and impact over time–including by collecting data on student enrollment, academic outcomes, completion rates and more. To collect and use these data, DOCs, state…

Colleges and universities are under increasing pressure to better prepare students for the world of work and integrate career preparation into their degree programs. There are many avenues to pursue in these efforts, including enhancing career services offices, revising general education curricula, and coordinating academic offerings with local workforce needs. One particularly promising approach is offering more experiential learning opportunities, like study abroad, service-learning, and undergraduate research. These experiences allow students to apply what they…

Ithaka S+R has published the results of a first-of-its-kind, nationwide survey of technology access in higher education in prison programs. You can read the full report findings, discussion, and recommendations here, as well as a condensed version of the key findings and figures. Important Information for a Field in Flux In July, the FAFSA Simplification Act went into effect, reinstating federal Pell grant funding for students who are incarcerated, and it is expected to increase access to…

In Security and Censorship: A Comparative Analysis of State Department of Corrections Media Review Policies, we examined media review directives from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, analyzing common policies, procedures, and language across these documents. Based on this analysis, we recommend a series of changes to media review directives and related policy. We believe that the suggested changes will benefit departments of corrections (DOC) by streamlining procedures and improving communication with people who are incarcerated. The…

With federal Pell grant funding set to resume for college students in prison, higher education in prison programs sit at a critical juncture. As students in prison gain access to additional educational programming, how can we ensure that the courses and curricula they receive are comparable to offerings on the outside? One necessary step is to ensure that the same quality course materials and readings are available. Under the current media review policies of many departments of corrections (DOC), we…

We are excited to announce the launch of a new survey on the landscape of technology access in higher education in prison programs. This survey is a part of Ithaka S+R’s larger work on access to information for incarcerated students and the role of media review in higher education in prisons. While early research on the expansion of educational opportunities in prisons is positive, existing research suggests that educational and skills-based inequities hinder system impacted learners.

Across higher education, classrooms and study commons have been reimagined to foster student engagement and learning. But for higher education in prison programs, it can prove challenging to find spaces optimized for education, much less space designed to support their educational needs. Access—or the lack of access—to classrooms, libraries, and scientific and computer labs, can play determining roles in the quality of higher education programming. With many competing demands for space, Departments of Corrections (DOC) may be inclined to look…