Correctional Education

Submitted by Mike Thombleson, IAACE Past President, Ivy Tech Correctional Regional Coordinator

Have you ever wondered how adult education is delivered inside the correctional facilities? How is it similar to education in the public or how is it different? Let me take a moment to describe how adult education services are provided within the correctional facilities.

Ivy Tech Madison campus is contracted by the Indiana Department of Correction, IDOC, to provide adult basic education and vocational programs in 15 separate facilities. This contract sets up a good partnership between Ivy Tech and IDOC. We have approximately 143 employees that provide education services to these fifteen facilities and the Madison Ivy Tech campus supports the program staff and students. All of our instructors are required to hold a teaching license through the Indiana Department of Education or another licensing board. Since the correctional sites differ in population size, we have small sites that only have one instructor and we have large sites that have a staff of 15 to 18 members. Each site has a site manager with the small sites sharing a manager with larger sites. There is an Ivy Tech state team that supports education in the correctional facilities.

At the facility level, we depend on a partnership with the IDOC wardens, deputy wardens, custody officers, and other contractors. Our students come to class by line movements that are approved weekly by custody. In order for an incarcerated individual to be considered for enrollment, they need to be referred to education by their case manager. Once they are referred, we do TABE pretesting. Each ABE instructor usually has a morning class and an afternoon class of 16 to 20 students in each. The classes usually range from 2 hours to 3.5 hours per day, Monday through Friday. The schools operate year-round. Our ABE classes have students that range from low NRS levels and skills to being ready for the HSE test. Our goal is for the students to earn their HSE by being prepared to take the test which we offer monthly. In addition to ABE classes, we offer special education services to those that qualify, IET classes at four facilities, and English Language Learner classes at four facilities.

We also offer a variety of vocational programs throughout the correctional facilities. Most of our vocational programs provide the student with the opportunity to earn a certification. Not all of the vocational classes are offered at all of the facilities but we do offer a wide range. Vocational courses are Culinary Arts at 8 facilities, Business Technology at 8 facilities, Building Trades at 7 facilities, Logistics at 6 facilities, NCCER Core at 5 facilities, The Last Mile, which is computer coding at 4 facilities, Welding at 4 facilities, Cosmetology at 3 facilities, Barber at 2 facilities, Horticulture at 1 facility, Auto Tech at 1 facility, and RVTI which is an inspection process of RV’s at 1 facility. Vocational courses usually operate for 5 to 6 hours per day on a M-F schedule. Different courses require different number of hours to complete and all have testing requirements. In addition, Ivy Tech offers some out-custody programs in welding and electricity to individuals in minimum security units.

In conclusion, our ABE and vocational program does operate similar and yet different to the public programs. We use the TABE test and the approved DWD HSE test.

All of our students in ABE, ELL, and IET courses are reported in InTERS with DWD. Our schedules are somewhat different, and we work with a close partnership with IDOC. Our vocational programs are not all IETs, but they do provide valuable training to incarcerated individuals and prepare them for jobs upon their release. Education is a valued program within the Department of Corrections.

Jenn Wigginton

Jenn is the IAACE Executive Director. Her passion for adult education shines through in everything she does for IAACE. You can invite her to a chat for questions anytime. Click here to book a time to chat with Jenn