National Assessment of Adult Literacy and Literacy among Prison Inmates

Summer 2007

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National Assessment of Adult Literacy
and Literacy among Prison Inmates

Sidebar stories: Literacy and Education among Alaska Inmates | National Assessment of Adult Literacy

Justice Center, University of Alaska Anchorage. (Summer 2007). "National Assessment of Adult Literacy and Literacy Among Prison Inmates." Alaska Justice Forum 24(2): 2-4. Literacy levels among the U.S. prison population are generally lower than among the general population, with levels for various minority prison populations lower than for Caucasian inmates. The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy tested a nationwide sample of over 19,000 individuals aged 16 and older in the nation’s households and state and federal prisons. Results specific to the prison population are discussed in a recently released report from the National Center for Education Statistics: “Literacy Behind Bars,” which are summarized in this article. A sidebar story examines literacy and education among Alaska inmates.

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Literacy levels among the U.S. prison population are generally lower than among the general population, with levels for various minority prison populations lower than for Caucasian inmates (Figure 1). The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy tested a nationwide sample of over 19,000 individuals aged 16 and older in the nation’s households and state and federal prisons. Results specific to the prison population are discussed in a recently released report from the National Center for Education Statistics: “Literacy Behind Bars.”
     Table 1 shows the kinds of abilities tested, the range of scores associated with each of four performance levels—below basic, basic, intermediate and proficient—and the tasks associated with each level of competency. Figures 2 and 3 present comparisons between the general adult population and the prison population.
     Average scores for the prison population fall within the basic level for all three measures of literacy, with sizeable percentages testing at the below basic level. Blacks and Hispanics, in general, scored less well on all measures (Figure 1).
     The report analyzes data from the survey according to gender, age, level of formal education, level of parental education and first language. It also discusses literacy levels in the context of prison education programs, work opportunities, computer skills and library use.
     The report also looks at literacy levels in conjunction with the formal educational levels of prison inmates. Inmates with a high school degree or its equivalent had higher scores on all three measures of literacy than those with lower levels of formal education.
     Those inmates who had left school before achieving a high school diploma actually had higher average scores on all three measures of literacy than those in the general population with the same level of education. In addition, prison inmates with a GED or other high school equivalency certificate had higher average prose literacy scores than adults with the same type of degree in the general population.
     Forty-three percent of prison inmates had achieved a high school diploma or its equivalent before the current incarceration. A further 19 percent had earned a high school equivalency degree during the current imprisonment, and 5 percent were enrolled in classes leading to such a degree.
     Twenty-nine percent of inmates had participated in some sort of vocational training, but more inmates reported being on waiting lists for these types of programs than were employed. Those participating in vocational training measured higher for all three types of literacy.

Further information on the National Assessment for Adult Literacy and copies of the report discussed above are available on the website of the National Center for Education Statistics at http://nces.ed.gov/naal/.

Figure 3. Percentage of the Adult Prison and Household Populations in Each Prose, Document, and Quantitative Literacy Level, 2003

Literacy and Education among Alaska Inmates

     The Alaska Department of Corrections offers educational programs in all its facilities, but, in general, the department does not systematically collect data on either the formal education levels or the literacy levels of its inmates. While there is information available on a scattered basis with regard to particular programs and in the files of individual prisoners, almost no management level summary data on prisoner literacy or educational achievement are available. There is no general testing of inmates.
     Education coordinators and superintendents in each facility tailor course offerings to the perceived needs of the inmate population and according to the resources of the community. Programs geared toward achieving the GED are foremost. Institutions also offer vocational technical programs in a variety of areas, including culinary arts, plumbing, electrical work, and computer skills, and some facilities also offer college-level classes. Offerings differ from institution to institution, and budgets are relatively small.
     In general, educational program participation is voluntary; it is not court-ordered as part of a sentence as it is in some other states.
The Youthful Offender Program at Spring Creek differs from other educational programs within the system. The program, which serves juveniles who have been tried and sentenced within the adult system for serious felonies, is an alternative high school funded and staffed through the Kenai School District. If a juvenile inmate has not already achieved a high school degree or GED, he is required to attend a regular schedule of high school classes in the institution, and in order to graduate, he must pass the statewide competency tests required of all graduates. The upper age limit for participation in this program is 22.
     According to figures published by Alaska Legislative Finance, the FY 2007 budget for “Offender Habilitation Programs” was $3.2 million. In addition, according to the Department of Corrections, approximately one million dollars more was expended on personnel costs for these programs. The $3.2 million, which was approximately 1.5 percent of the total department operating budget, covered not just formal education programs, such as courses leading to the GED, but also programs such as the sex offender treatment program and substance abuse treatment. The figure does not include costs for the education programs at the private prison in Arizona, where over 800 Alaska prisoners are incarcerated; the budget for these programs is included as part of the contract with Corrections Corporation of America.

National Assessment of Adult Literacy

      The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL), which is mentioned in two articles of this issue of the Forum, was administered to a nationally representative sampling of over 19,000 adults (aged 16 and older) in the nation’s households and prisons. It was the first assessment of literacy conducted nationwide since 1992.
     The 2003 test was designed and administered so that comparison with results from the earlier assessment would be valid. The same types of literacy were evaluated, using the same types of test items.
     The assessment was administered by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a sub-division of the U.S. Department of Education.

Last updated 04-Nov-2009 by ayjust@uaa.alaska.edu