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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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inmates > Alaska adult corrections |
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/.
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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.