Instead of a school to prison pipeline, can there be a prison to college pipeline?

Submitted by Kathy Tracey on Mon, 12/17/2018 - 09:06
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Friends, 

I invite you to review the article Prison to College Pipeline. From the article, "What brought them to Rutgers was an innovative program called the New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons Consortium (NJ-STEP), a partnership between the state’s department of corrections and several two- and four-year colleges in the state. Under NJ-STEP, inmates can take college classes while in prison (more than 500 are currently doing so) and, when they leave, have their credits transfer smoothly to participating colleges—something that happens too seldom in other prison education programs."

Consider the possibilities here. Do we work with our corrections and reentry programs to further up-skill formerly incarcerated individuals to move beyond their high school equivalency program and help them move toward postsecondary education? If you have practices to share or successful models, our community members would love to hear about them. 

I hope you will consider sharing how any partnerships between your programs and correctional facilities work together to serve formerly incarcerated individuals. 

Sincerely, 
Kathy Tracey 

Comments

Janet, 

Thank you for sharing this article. It is definitely an inspiring model. It made me think about the potential of CLEP testing in prison. When these tests went to computer-based testing, most facilities were not able to continue offering them. Are there any correctional institutions that offer these tests? If so, can you share your experiences? 

Sincerely, 
Kathy Tracey