Participate and share: Poster 
Purpose: We will share lessons learned from implementation of The Petey Greene Program (PGP)’s model virtual HSE program for incarcerated learners that blends use of technology from American Prison Data Systems (APDS) and Essential Education GED Academy curriculum with tailored synchronous tutoring support from trained volunteer tutors. A necessary part of this will also be to discuss the challenges and gains of working with carceral classrooms which have had historically had limited opportunity for technology intervention and student engagement outside of designated classroom sessions. As a natural extension of our work, we will present potential policy implications relating to prison education in New York State as well as best practices for supporting learners in non-traditional educational spaces.
Technology interventions: APDS (tablets), Essential Education (curriculum on tablets), Zoom (facilitating sessions), Google Suite (volunteer training, programmatic tracking, and lesson planning), and Salesforce (volunteer tracking)
Program outcomes: Students improve their TABE score by 1 grade level as well as passing multiple sections of the HSE exam within 3-4 months of study, with some students earning their HSE credential in that time frame. Students also improved their reading, writing, communication, and math skills, connecting concepts to real-life situations. Students also demonstrated gains in confidence and team building, bolstered by the cohort model implemented.
Instructional strategies: Alignment of PGP adaptive scope & sequence of GED Academy with synchronous tutoring to create sequential lesson plans; use of regular, daily session time with consistent tutors teams for each day along with consistent program manager presence at every session; analysis of tablet-based midpoint and endpoint assessments to inform curriculum progression, making adjustments as needed based on areas to strengthen as indicated by assessment; utilization of incentives rewarding effort as well as skill mastery; incorporation of check-in recaps and debriefs to improve student memory recall and student engagement
Objectives:
Participants will learn about and engage with specific issues facing students and educators working in/building carceral classroom spaces, including the current landscape in New York State.
Participants will learn about the model HSE program being implemented in a local county jail that uses adaptive technology and understand the program components, methodology used to document and evaluate iterations of the program, and steps to make the program more robust and sustainable after each iteration.
Participants will understand gains made by students thus far in the pilot through the sharing of relevant data and programmatic anecdotes gathered over the course of the two cohorts.
Participants will understand links to policy in New York and areas for advocacy relating to carceral classrooms/educational opportunities for incarcerated people.
Participants will be invited to think critically about how programs like these can be expanded and/or applied to other non-traditional educational spaces and learners.
Introduction of speakers and the Petey Greene Program (3mins)
Framing the our program: brief overview of relevant issues in education in carceral spaces (7mins)
HSE diploma gap for incarcerated learners,
Historic lack of technology in correctional facilities,
Continued need for quality HSE despite increased focus on higher education w/Pell
Issue of increase in tech at expense of decreasing personal [virtual or in-person] engagement
Varying levels of student subject competency
Lack of access to students’ academic records)
Core components of the PGP virtual HSE model (5mins)
Essential Education tablet-based curriculum (GED Academy)
Virtual tutoring sessions 5 days a week via Zoom with designated tutoring team of 3 for each day
Tracking via Salesforce and log in Google Docs
Supplemental materials
Cohort-based model of 6-10 students
Regular presence of PGP staff for continuity
Learner outcomes (5mins)
Score improvement (1 grade level minimum)
Passing rate with 3-4 months of study
Improvement in reading, writing, and math skills through tablet lessons and synchronous tutoring sessions
Ability to connect reading, writing, and math skills to real-life scenarios
Self-reported confidence and team-building skills (cohort model)
Enthusiasm for learning
Iterative change and data driven response (10mins)
Development of scope and sequence
Alignment of adaptive curriculum with traditional tutoring approach to create sequential lesson plans
Tutor resource bank
Midpoint assessment analysis
Certificate incentivization
Student communication tool
Next steps and policy implications (10mins)
Policy implications
Increasing investment in ethical education technology in carceral spaces
Hiring support staff who are equipped to facilitate virtual sessions and who are able to learn how to use technological tools for education purposes
Improving access to and increasing funding for education-based nonprofits to facilitate HSE preparation programs
Continued active volunteer participation in carceral spaces
Questions (15mins)
Reduction in recidivism with educational attainment:
Davis, Lois, et al. RAND Corporation, 2013, Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education: A Meta-Analysis of Programs That Provide Education to Incarcerated Adults, https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR266.html.
Blended learning in correctional environments:
Dias-Trindade, S., and J. A. Moreira. “Online Learning Environments Enriched With Audiovisual Technologies and Its Impact on the Construction of Virtual Communities in Higher Education in Prison Context”. Journal of E-Learning and Knowledge Society, Vol. 16, no. 2, May 2020, pp. 09-16, doi:10.20368/1971-8829/1135039.
Need for quality HSE programs for incarcerated learners:
Couloute, Louis. Prison Policy Initiative, 2018, Getting Back on Course: Educational Exclusion and Attainment among Formerly Incarcerated People, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/education.html.
Harlow, Caroline Wolf. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2003, Education and Correctional Populations, https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/ecp.pdf.
Kowalski, Daniel J. New Jersey Department of Corrections, 2013, Evaluating the Impact of the Petey Greene Prisoner Assistance Program, https://bit.ly/3Lx9SgZ.
Rampey , Bobby D., and Shelley Keiper. U.S. Department of Education, 2016, Highlights from the U.S. PIAAC Survey of Incarcerated Adults: Their Skills, Work Experience, Education, and Training, https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2016/2016040.pdf.
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