Education Justice Tracker
Exploration
Cornell University|$1,350,000|10/2021 - 12/2025
This grant supports the Cornell Prison Education Program in evolving its incarcerated learner database into a sharable digital tool, while developing models for using this open-source software to improve learner outcomes.
Jesuit Prison Education
Exploration
Loyola University New Orleans|$1,200,000|12/2022 - 11/2025
This grant supports the Jesuit Prison Education Network (JPEN), a nationwide coalition of Jesuit colleges, in developing best practices and sharing resources to strengthen postsecondary education in prison programs across the network. JPEN and its research center, the Jesuit Social Research Institute, will strengthen the capacity of member programs to evaluate their programs and build capacity for continuous improvement.
Implementing an Evaluability Assessment
Exploration
Reentry Campus Program|$250,000|12/2022 - 8/2025
This grant supports Reentry Campus Program in continuing to strengthen its core programming aimed at helping incarcerated and formerly incarcerated learners identify a career path, gain college credit and complete degrees and certificates. The grant also supports their capacity to work with an external evaluator to to define their unique program model and lay the groundwork for future evaluation.
Planning for a Center for Prison Education Research and Leadership
Exploration
University of Utah|$750,000|7/2023 - 12/2024
This grant supports the University of Utah in planning the design and launch of a research center focused on postsecondary education in prisons. The proposed center will serve as a national hub for defining critical evidence gaps and advancing rigorous research to inform the design, evaluation and improvement of postsecondary education programs for incarcerated learners.
Helping the Field Prepare for Pell Reinstatement
Scaling
Vera Institute of Justice Inc|$1,400,000|12/2022 - 12/2024
This grant supports Vera Institute of Justice in providing technical assistance, training and advising to new and existing Second Chance Pell college sites and their state corrections system partners. The goal of these activities is to ensure the implementation of high-quality postsecondary education in prison and to help the field prepare for the full restoration of Pell Grants for incarcerated learners on July 1, 2023.
Assessing Quality and Equitable Access and Outcomes of Distance Postsecondary Courses for the Incarcerated
Validation
American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences|$700,000|7/2021 - 6/2024
This grant supports the American Institutes for Research in conducting a study to identify and examine high quality and equitable distance education practices among a select group of postsecondary education in prison providers offering courses that lead to a credential or degree. By producing evidence on the strengths and weaknesses of different distance education options, this study hopes to determine a connection between characteristics of program quality and student success outcomes.
Massachusetts Prison Education Consortium Expansion
Scaling
The Educational Justice Institute at MIT|$810,700|7/2021 - 6/2024
This grant supports The Educational Justice Institute at MIT in designing a scalable, sustainable and replicable model of postsecondary education delivery throughout the Massachusetts prison system. This model will unite the disparate courses offered throughout the correctional system into a coordinated network of transferable credits, guide students through facility transfers and create comprehensive programs leading to credentials.
Ready for Pell
Scaling
Jobs for the Future Inc|$4,984,528|9/2021 - 4/2024
This grant supports Jobs for the Future Inc (JFF) in leading Ascendium’s Ready for Pell initiative, including identifying and selecting high-capacity postsecondary education providers; surfacing and disseminating best practices; and providing technical assistance to enable institutions to implement best practices. JFF will also manage the third-party evaluation and share lessons from the initiative to inform efforts to scale access to Pell in prison settings.
Preparing Incarcerated Learners for Careers in Technology
Exploration
The LaunchCode Foundation|$967,700|12/2020 - 12/2023
This grant supports The LaunchCode Foundation in expanding access to their foundational coding/web development training and employment program to incarcerated students in several Missouri prison facilities. The goal of the project is to increase workforce training opportunities and improve employment outcomes for incarcerated adults while providing a pathway to further education.
Understanding Educational Space Needs in Prisons
Exploration
Ithaka Harbors Inc|$550,000|12/2021 - 12/2023
This grant supports Ithaka S+R in exploring intersections of high-quality postsecondary education in prison and physical space constraints that impact educational programming in prisons. The goal of the project is to conduct research and develop policy recommendations and design solutions that will allow prisons to maximize access to high-quality postsecondary education programming.
