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Abstract

This article reports findings from an impact study of a 2-year postsecondary academic program offered in state prisons. Outcomes examined for participants during their 1st year of participation include performance on a standardized test of critical thinking skills, credit acquisition, achievement motivation, educational aspirations, personal development, and institutional (prison) climate. A cluster randomized design was used in which prisons in six states were randomly assigned to implement the Correctional Education Association College of the Air (CEA/COA) program or control programming. Analyses show that students in the CEA/COA program had average critical thinking scores that were about three fourths of a point lower, as measured by the Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (effect size = −.14), and acquired on average approximately two fewer credits (effect size = −.43) than students from control sites after 1 year. There were no significant group differences associated with educational aspirations, achievement motivation, personal development, and institutional climate measures.

Keywords

associate’s degrees cluster randomized design correctional education distance education outcomes of education

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The Impact of an Associate’s Degree Program for Incarcerated Students

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