The Virginia Department of Corrections mandates that all offenders without a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma (GED) are required to be enrolled in GED programs offered in the prison system. However, these programs have shown varying rates of success. Supported by the constructivist theory, the purpose of this qualitative case…

Based on screenings of 1,150 manuscripts, we synthesize evidence from 18 eligible studies of educational interventions implemented within juvenile correctional facilities. The studies include 5 intervention categories: remedial academic instruction, computer-assisted instruction, personalized academic instruction, vocational education, and GED…

Correctional educators, recognizing that the majority of inmates lack the math, reading, and language skills required to be successful in today's workplace, strive to equip offenders with the skills and abilities needed to find and maintain work on their release. However, most adult literacy programs in prisons fail to raise the gradelevel…

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-199) represented a historic piece of legislation designed to improve outcomes for and provide a comprehensive response to the increasing number of individuals who are released from prisons, jails, and juvenile residential facilities, and returning to communities upon release. The Second Chance Act's…

This study quantified the influence of visual Attention Therapy (AT) on reading skills and Coherent Motion Threshold (CMT) in adjudicated teens with moderate reading disabilities (RD) residing in a residential alternative sentencing program. Forty-two students with below-average reading scores were identified using standardized reading…

Despite the importance of literacy skill training for incarcerated youth, a very limited number of empirically based research studies have examined reading instruction in correctional facilities. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Fast ForWord computer-assisted reading program improved the reading and spelling abilities of…

Use of microcomputers in a state residential facility for nonambulatory profoundly mentally retarded persons is discussed. The effects of such a severe handicap on the residents is examined, and potential contributions of a microcomputer in providing precise contingency control, recording response data, and delivering immediate reinforcement…

The 2 year project (July 1, 1978 through June 30, 1980) sought to determine the viability, attractiveness, and effectiveness of computer based instruction with approximately 225 severely and profoundly mentally handicapped and developmentally disabled institutionalized children and adults. Over 100 instructional formats were developed by staff…

A study compared the effectiveness of computer-assisted reading instruction to that of a direct teaching model. Nineteen adult male inmates from Windham School System's Ellis II Unit (located in Texas) special education classrooms served as subjects. The subjects were divided into two groups each of which spent one hour a day on reading. One group…

The eight reports featured in this publication detail the accomplishments of the State Grant Program (Titles I through IV) funded by the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA). Written by members of the Public Library Support Staff, these descriptions are based on state and local library reports on how they meet a variety of users' needs.…

The seven narrative reports featured in this publication detail the accomplishments, in seven key areas, of State Grant Programs (Titles I, II, and III) funded by the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA). These descriptions of state and local library activities, demonstrating how libraries are meeting a variety of users' needs, are: (1)…