Invisible Students
Challenges to Evaluation in Prison Higher Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18060/28169Keywords:
Assessment & Evaluation, program evaluation, higher education in prison, Prison educationAbstract
The challenge: This paper examines the state of knowledge and evaluation in prison higher education. Little is known about its efforts, outcomes, and impact or about the students enrolled in such efforts. Potential consequences: Incarcerated college students are a disenfranchised population with restricted autonomy. Without understanding prison higher education efforts and outcomes, colleges and universities run the risk of further marginalizing this group of students. Description/analysis/methods: Using the first comprehensive national survey of prison higher education programs, we assess whether and how data are collected on incarcerated college students and whether these data are used for student tracking and/or outcomes evaluation. We then elucidate a variety of challenges that help explain the current lack of quality data. Rationale/reflection/replication: We find that current data collection among prison higher education programs is extremely limited; most programs are unable to provide basic information about their students, instructors, or key student success metrics such as persistence and completion. We conclude with recommendations for program administrators, colleges and universities, and policymakers involved in the work of prison higher education, equity, and access to higher education.
References
Castro, E. L., Brawn, M., Graves, D., Mayorga, O., Page, J. & Slater, A. (2015). Higher education in an era of mass incarceration: Possibility under constraint. Journal of Critical Studies of Higher Education and Student Affairs, 1(2), 13-33. https://ecommons.luc.edu/jcshesa/vol1/iss1/2
Castro, E. L. (2018). Racism, the language of reduced recidivism, and higher education in prison: Toward an anti-racist praxis. Critical Education, 9(17). https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v9i17.186357.
Castro, E. L., & Gould, M. R. (2018). What is higher education in prison? Introduction to radical departures: Ruminations on the purposes of higher education in prison. Critical Education, 9(10). https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v9i10.186439
Castro, E. L., Royer, C. E., Lerman, A. E., & Gould, M. R. (2024). Beyond Pell restoration: Addressing persistent funding challenges in prison higher education toward racial and economic justice. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 17(4), 541.
Castro, E. L., Royer, C. E. Aguilar Padilla, E., & Gaskill, S. (2022). Pell is not enough: Exploring the experience of participants in Second Chance Pell. Salt Lake City, UT: Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison. https://cherp.utah.edu/publications/exploring_experiences_of_second_chance_pell.php
Bozick, Steele, Davis, L., & Turner (2018). Does providing inmates with education improve postrelease outcomes? A meta-analysis of correctional education programs in the United States. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 14(3), 389-428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-018-9334-6
Community & College Fellowship & Formerly Incarcerated College Graduate Network. (2021). Supporting Continuity of Education From Carceral Setting to Reentry In Regulations on Pell Grants for Prison Education Programs. Memorandum of Understanding. https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2021/pellmemo.pdf
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Pub. L. No. 116-260 (2020), https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-116publ260
Chesnut, K., Taber, N., & Quintana, J. (2022). Second Chance Pell: Five years of expanding higher education programs in prisons, 2016-2021. Vera Institute of Justice https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/second-chance-pell-five-years-of-expanding-access-to-education-in-prison-2016-2021.pdf
Davis, L. M., Bozick, R., Steele, J. L., Saunders, J., & Miles, J. N.V. (2013). Education and Vocational Training in Prisons Reduces Recidivism, Improves Job Outlook. RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR266.html
FAFSA Simplification Act of 2019, S. 2667. (2019). https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/2667
Gaskill, S., Gould, M. R., Price, V., Castro, E. L., Lerman, A. E. (2023). The landscape of higher education in prison, 2020-2021. Alliance for Higher Education in Prison. https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e3dd3cf0b4b54470c8b1be1/6491de8e5d0081067689ab52_TheLandscapeofHigherEducationinPrison-2020-2021.pdf.
Higher Education in Prison Research. (n.d.). https://higheredinprisonresearch.org/database/
Kersten, E., Castro, E. L., Knaff, C., & Taylor, J.. (2024). Data collection and reporting of college students with incarceration histories: An update from the field. University of Utah: Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison. https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e3dd3cf0b4b54470c8b1be1/66f41c2fff813ae8b642c204_DataCollectionAndReporting_Final.pdf
Lerman, A. E., & Sadin, M. (2023). Transformational learning and identity shift: Evidence from a campus behind bars. Punishment & Society, 25(3), 683-706. https://doi.org/10.1177/14624745221087702
Long, B. T. (2018, May 25). The college completion landscape: Trends, challenges, and why it matters. The American Enterprise Institute and Third Way Institute. https://www.thirdway.org/report/the-college-completion-landscape-trends-challenges-and-why-it-matters
Martín-Baró, I. (1994). Writings for a liberation psychology. In Aron, A. & Corne, S. (Eds.). Harvard University Press.
Maruna, S. (2001). Making good: How ex-convicts reform and reclaim their lives. American Psychological Association.
Maruna, S. (2020). Beyond Recidivism: New Approaches to Research on Prisoner Reentry and Reintegration (A. Leverentz, E. Y. Chen, & J. Christian, Eds.). NYU Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1n6pv8f
Moore, S. & Erzen, T. (2021). The relationship between Liberal Arts classroom experiences and the development of agency-related well-being for incarcerated students. Journal of Higher Education in Prison, 1(1), 30-49.
Rogers, C. R. (1961). On becoming a person: A therapist`s view of psychotherapy. Houghton-Mifflin.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2022). The Limits of Recidivism: Measuring Success After Prison. Rosenfeld, R. & Grigg A. (Eds) Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26459.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68.
Schwandt, T. A. (2014). On the mutually informing relationship between practice and theory in evaluation. American Journal of Evaluation, 35(2), 231-236. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214013503703.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Erin Castro, Amy Lerman
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
