We provide evidence about college financial aid from an eight-year randomized trial where high school ninth graders received a $12,000 merit-based grant offer. The program was designed to be free of tuition/fees at community colleges and substantially lower the cost of four-year colleges. During high school, it increased students' college…

A major challenge for juvenile correctional facilities (JCF) is providing literacy instruction to a transitory student population with a wide range of literacy abilities. The purpose of this study was to identify unique literacy profiles of students in long-term JCF taking into consideration their reading abilities, language abilities,…

The focus in this dissertation was on the increasing involvement of Black male youth in the carceral system and the connection to their experiences in high school. This problem is multifaceted in education because of the numerous actors and factors that contribute to the antecedents and outcomes of the key players closest to the problem, Black…

This study aimed to determine the learning patterns and experiences of incarcerated adults within correctional settings and how their prison learning transforms their lives after they are released. In this qualitative research, semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain the opinions of eight formerly incarcerated people who experienced…

Although incarcerated individuals have committed potentially 'immoral' crimes, many are also parents, and need to foster their children's moral development. As such, incarcerated parents occupy a paradoxical position: they are labelled as morally deviant yet simultaneously expected to provide moral guidance for their children. This study explores…

Youth with and at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) served in alternative education settings often experience challenges with writing due to various deficits across academic, behavioral, and social-emotional domains, especially in the area of writing. These youth also are less likely to engage in self-determination skills such as…

There is currently bipartisan support for criminal justice reform in the United States. One reform, recently passed through the Consolidated Appropriations Act/COVID relief package (December 2020), restored need-based, higher educational aid for incarcerated persons. With a resurgence of college-in-prison programs on the horizon, this article…

This study is a content analysis of K-12 U.S. history curriculum standards from 50 states regarding curricular re/presentation of Asian Americans. The guiding research questions are as follows: (1) What is the frequency of Asian American content covered in K-12 U.S. history standards from 50 states? (2) How do the standards depict Asian Americans…

Nationally, one in 100 adults is currently incarcerated. Meanwhile, more than 2.7 million U.S. children--or one in 28 children (The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2010)--currently have a parent who is incarcerated, and many more U.S. children face the daily effects of familial incarceration due to past parental incarceration or the incarceration of other…

In this research paper we focus on the problems concerning inmates' access to education through Second Chance Schools operating within penitentiaries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A specially encrypted platform has been created through open-source software that can provide distance learning and does not allow access to any part of the internet…

Children with disabilities are at increased risk of experiencing stressful life events. These events include various forms of abuse, neglect, and household instability, such as exposure to violence, parental or guardian incarceration, and living with someone with mental illness or alcohol or drug problems. Stressful life events experienced in…

There is an overrepresentation of elementary-age, Black boys being suspended across the United States. Researchers have found that if these boys are disconnected from school at an early age, they are at risk of becoming part of the school-to-prison pipeline (STPP). Educators, particularly those in urban settings, need to understand more about the…

Prisons across the world are manifested by--and themselves manifest--racial capitalism, ableism, and cisheteropatriarchy. At the same time, education, both on the outside and on the inside, is positioned as a key solution to the crises of mass incarceration. More specifically, higher education in prison (HEP) programs are often billed as…

This dissertation addresses the unequal incarceration of African-Americans and Mexican Americans in the United States. It examines the historical foundations of the construction of race to create criminality toward African-Americans. The legacy of the prison industrial complex perpetuating and prolonging further criminalization to enslave people…

Options for incarcerated individuals to participate in higher education in prison programs (HEPPs) have expanded in recent years to include courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, however these students remain an underserved population in the United States. Thus, there are opportunities to expand the available offerings,…