March 2024 Newsletter
Three months ago, we launched the Puttkammer Center for Educational Justice and Equity, a new division of the PGP that will help us pilot, evaluate, and scale our programs, while generating and disseminating research on effective and high-quality education in carceral and reentry settings. I’m proud to say that we are off to a very strong start, with a new pilot program underway and many more coming up, as well as a full agenda of events, conferences, and research projects.
During our first three months, we focused on designing and launching new pilot programs. Some of them, like our College Bridge program at SCI-Phoenix and our Out-of-School Time programs in DC, have already gotten off the ground. Over the next few weeks, more will come, including a new training program preparing incarcerated scholars to serve as tutors and a GED preparation program for formerly incarcerated adult learners in New York City.
The evaluation of these pilots will help us prove the essential elements of effective tutoring and college readiness programs for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students. Tutoring and mentoring, college readiness programs, and academic support interventions have long been known to be key for ensuring students success in secondary and postsecondary institutions alike, especially for first-generation students and older students. But how do we translate this research to carceral and reentry settings? Incarcerated learners are a broad and diverse group, with a wide range of backgrounds, educational experiences, and goals. How are their needs similar and different from those of learners on traditional campuses? How do we know what works, and how do we build on the effective practices and learning communities that already exist in carceral spaces? These are some of the questions that will guide our work at the Puttkammer Center over the next few months. We look forward to sharing what we learn, identifying best practices that can guide our work at the PGP and beyond.
Chiara Benetollo, Executive Director of the Puttkammer Center for Educational Justice and Equity
College Bridge Program at SCI-Phoenix
The Puttkammer Center for Educational Justice and Equity is leading the expansion of the College Bridge at a new site in Pennsylvania, SCI-Phoenix, in partnership with Villanova University. In this facility, our program addresses a critical gap in the students’ academic preparation, fostering the reading, writing, math, and critical thinking skills that will enable them to enroll and succeed in college-level courses offered by the Villanova Program at SCI-Phoenix.
This semester, we are focusing on reading and writing skills, with a course that challenges students to engage with texts belonging to a broad range of genres and contexts, from Frederick Douglass’ memoir to essays by Audre Lorde. Progressing through guided exercises, brief writing assignments, and longer papers, students not only develop their literacy skills but also learn how to express their opinions in an organized and persuasive manner, adapting their writing to different contexts and audiences. The semester got off to a great start, shared Colleen Daily, the College Bridge Coordinator and one of the course instructors:
“It's been rewarding so far to discuss works from Douglass and Ellison with our students as the conversations are rich with life experience and different perspectives. I’m already starting to see students’ progress in their writing and analysis skills, and I’m excited about their future academic endeavors.”
Interested in teaching for this program? Please complete our volunteer instructor application! We are seeking both writing and math instructors for our summer semester, starting in June 2024.
Catch Up on “Beyond the US: Incarceration and Educational Justice”
Our first webinar “Beyond the US: Incarceration and Educational Justice Around the World” brought together an incredible group of scholars, advocates, and practitioners from the US, Europe, and South Africa. Our conversation spanned from college in prison programs in South Africa, to high school education in Greece, literary events in a women’s prison in Venice, and the tradition of activism and prison writing in Russia.
Out-of-School Time Programs for Incarcerated Youth
For the second year in a row, the Petey Greene Program has been selected to serve as the Coordinating Entity for Out-of-School time programs for incarcerated youth in DC. The Puttkammer Center and the PGP DC Regional Office collaborated to launch new afterschool programs ranging from music and theater to sports, in three carceral facilities in the DC area. Norma Dhanaraj, the PGP DC Regional Manager, commented on the success of these new programs:
As the District of Columbia enters a new budget cycle, the PGP is joining other local organizations in advocating to preserve government funding that supports crucial Out-of-School time programs. Read more about these efforts here.
The PGP at the COABE Conference
The PGP staff held three panels at the national conference of the Coalition for Adult Basic Education in Nashville, TN. In our first panel, the Puttkammer Center ED Chiara Benetollo and PGP CEO Jeff Abramowitz discussed with Danielle Cox (DPSCS) the preliminary results of a survey created in partnership by the PGP and COABE in order to better understand the landscape of college readiness programs in carceral facilities across the country. Out of more than 300 survey responses, 84% indicated that incarcerated students are not ready for college. Yet, only 13% of the respondents indicated that college bridge programs are available in the facilities where they operate.
In our next panel, we shared the PGP’s success in addressing this gap. This time, Chiara was joined by Jill Stockwell (Prison Teaching Initiative), and Katherine Meloney (Villanova Program at SCI-Phoenix), who shared the promising results of the PGP College Bridge program in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Our last panel brought together the PGP Director of Curriculum and Training Emma Morrissey, DC Regional Manager Norma Dhanaraj, and NJ Division Manager Een Jabriel, as well as current and former PGP tutors and students to discuss the impact of tutoring on incarcerated and formerly incarcerated adult learners.
Register NOW for the Upcoming 3rd Annual 5K Run/Walk for Education Justice!
We hope you will join us on April 13 in Boston, Philadelphia, Princeton or virtually from wherever you are for our 3rd Annual 5K Run/Walk for Education Justice!
With every step we take, we will demonstrate that everyone deserves a chance, that we cannot discount anyone, and that we are responsible for each other. Get your ticket to secure your spot today!