Integrated Education and Training (IET) in Corrections: A Companion Guide to the IET Design Toolkit

This guide summarizes considerations, tools, and examples that can be used by state and facility administrators and instructors as they develop and implement IET programs in jails and prisons.

Author(s)
Laura Rasmussen Foster
Jessie Stadd
Michelle Tolbert
Author(s) Organizational Affiliation
RTI International
Publication Year
2023
Resource Type
Informational Material
Number of Pages
28
Abstract

When aligned with career pathways and other education and training programs in the community, IET programs offered in prisons and jails enable participants to make significant progress toward their education and training goals that can be continued after release. This guide summarizes lessons learned from the IET in Corrections project and serves as a companion to the IET Design Toolkit. It offers considerations, tools, and examples for planning, designing, implementing, and evaluating IET programs in prisons and jails, designed to supplement the guidance provided in the Toolkit.

Benefits and Uses

IET programs continue to gain momentum in adult education as a strategy for combining adult education and literacy, workforce training, and workforce preparation to offer contextualized instruction for learners. Since 2020, OCTAE has supported the development and implementation of IET programs in prisons and jails to help address the foundational and occupational skill needs of adults impacted by incarceration. IET offers important benefits to correctional education participants, such as accelerated learning, access to career pathways, and contextualized instruction. This guide summarizes lessons learned from early experiences developing IET programs for correctional education settings and can help correctional education staff to apply IET guidance to their specific context.

The guide also is being used to support OCTAE’s recent project designed to provide technical assistance (TA) to 36 states as they develop and implement IET programs in corrections. Participating states – and others – can potentially use the guide to complement information offered in the IET Design Toolkit as they develop, plan, implement, and evaluate IET programs in corrections.

Useful features of the guide include: considerations for developing and implementing IET programs in corrections related to each phase of IET design; examples from pilot states’ experiences developing IET programs in corrections; and tools for developing state policy guidance, making the case for IET in corrections, and understanding partner and staff roles in each phase of IET design and implementation.

Required Training

Prior training is not recommended for this resource, but it is encouraged to be used in conjunction with the IET Design Toolkit.

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