Case study Five Keys Charter School
References Educational Technology In Corrections: US DOE Memo 2015
Start Date 2015-00-00
Notes Who: Five Keys Charter School, in collaboration with the San Francisco County Sheriff’s Department and Adult Probation and American Prison Data Systems (APDS), launched a pilot in October 2014 with the office of probation. The pilot allows probationers to participate in reentry programming, to communicate with their probation officers, and to continue to participate in the educational courses and programming they began while incarcerated. What: APDS worked with Five Keys Charter School, which provides educational services for the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department and Probation Division, to digitize and deliver its curriculum and to electronically deliver applications, such as Khan Academy videos, K-16 assessment, remediation and high school equivalency programming and test preparation, literacy programming, substance abuse programming, career exploration and vocational training, the APDS National Corrections Library, law library services, the Straight-A-Guide recovery program, reentry resources, and educational games. Why: California recently passed legislation requiring prison population realignment. This legislation, intended to address issues of overcrowding in state prisons by reallocating state prisoners serving terms less than five years to county jail facilities, has created a jail population with limited access to robust educational and other programming. The tablet pilot delivers more programming, for longer periods of time, and to a larger percentage of the jail population. Successes • The pilot project allowed a secure, connected “ruggedized” mobile platform that includes education, wellness, and vocational files and videos (as described above) to be deployed. • Five Keys’ paper-based curriculum was digitized for tablet delivery in support of a flipped- classroom model. • A corrections-specific digital lending library was launched that enables the jail system to offer more secure access (less risk of contraband transfers) to a larger selection of books for recreational, inspiration, and educational use. Challenges • Scaling delivery to a larger incarcerated population and keeping staff adequately trained will take time and attention. • Providing a 4G connectivity in certain jail locations to improve signal strength at facilities must be addressed. • Making the system cost-effective and accessible at state and county budget rates is difficult. • Managing the logistics associated with larger incarcerated student populations and high student turnover requires continued attention. Looking forward • Permit incarcerated individuals to continue using tablets for a specified period following their release (this approach is currently being tested by the probation division). • Allow probation officers to monitor their clients’ program participation to inform probation decisions, such as determining whether an individual can be processed for release from supervision. • Deploy large-scale educational and substance abuse programs in 2015. • Plan for an efficacy study of the pilot programs. For more information, contact Five Keys Charter School via http://www.fivekeyscharter.org/.
Updated about 4 years ago

Source Links