Facts
Explore the kinds of literacy work members are involved with
- tribal schools
- prison literacy
- battered women's shelters - coming soon
- homeless shelters -coming soon
- disaster relief -coming soon
- English teachers at disadvantage schools -coming soon
- juvenile detention centers -coming soon
- half-way houses -coming soon
- underfunded literacy programs -coming soon
- English as second language programs -coming soon
These sad facts gleaned from a 2001 (latest) GAO report: “BIA and DOD Schools Achievement and Other Characteristics Often Differ from Public Schools Report to Congressional Requestors.”
64 percent of BIA schools reported that the number one teacher concern with school equipment was the insufficient number of books in the library.
“The academic achievement of many BIA students … is far below the
performance of students in public schools. BIA students also score
considerably below national averages on college admission tests.”
“BIA school administrators… said that some schools experience
considerable difficulties recruiting and retaining qualified staff.”
“Nearly 60 percent of BIA students have limited English proficiency compared with just 6 percent of DOD students."
BIA student drop-out rates are twice the national average.
With parental education and income levels being consistent indicator of how well students do in school, BIA students are disadvantaged. With nearly 60 percent meeting poverty standards, and employment rates of more than 40 percent on or near many reservations.
“Moreover, a number of factors can affect parental
involvement in BIA schools, including long distances between home and
school, language barriers, and parents’ poor associations with schools due
to past federal policies emphasizing the assimilation of Indian children.”
SAT and ACT scores for BIA students are nearly half their non-Indian counterparts in reading and math.
by Kerka Sandra
"It costs the government half a million bucks to keep me in jail and $450 to teach me to read and write," said one ex convict.
The literacy demands of the workplace and society are growing in complexity, and recurring linked cycles of poverty and low literacy levels put some people at increasing disadvantage. The prison population includes disproportionate numbers of the poor; those released from prisons are often unable to find employment, partly due to a lack of job and/or literacy skills, and are often reincarcerated...
Add to that the high cost of imprisonment and the huge increase in the prison population and it seems clear that mastery of literacy skills may be a preventive and proactive way to address the problem.
However, correctional educators contend with multiple problems in delivering literacy programs to inmates. Interviews with 1,100 inmates from federal and state prisons show that of the 5 levels measured, 7 in 10 inmates performed on the lowest 2 levels, on the average substantially lower than the general population. Only 51% of prisoners completed high school compared to 76% of the general population.
Between 1980 and 1992, the prison population increased 160%... Besides the problems caused by overcrowding, correctional educators must contend with inadequate funding, equipment, and materials
Many prisoners have had negative early schooling experiences and may have poor attitudes about education. Successful prison literacy programs are learner centered, recognizing different learning styles, cultural backgrounds. They are participatory; instead of taking a "deficit" perspective, educators recognize and use learner strengths to help them shape their own learning.
For example, Boudin (1993) drew upon women inmates' oral tradition by having them write and perform a play. Literacy should be put into meaningful contexts that address learner needs. Boudin used concerns about AIDS in prison as the organizing issue for instruction. Using literature written by prisoners provides relevant subject matter as well as writing models. Family literacy programs enable inmates to view themselves and be seen in roles other than prisoners.
Lack of funding and staff can be offset by using community and peer tutors. Community tutors provide links to the outside world and can help ease the transition back to society. Perhaps the best program outcomes are those most difficult to measure. Instead of viewing literacy as the inculcation of basic skills, embedding it in a broader perspective of education might address the hopelessness and powerlessness that may be both the cause and effect of inmates' actions before, during, and after incarceration.
More fact catagories to come.
