Course Description
Summary
Explicit and implicit biases contribute to inequity and significant achievement gaps in education. Research has shown a connection between success in early childhood education and imprisonment. Equity in Education is equitable when outcomes are similar for all students without regard to race, gender, ethnicity, class, language, ability, or sexual orientation. Unfortunately America’s system of public education has become less equitable despite attempts to achieve equity through various means including integration and privatization. This has contributed to a disparate number of Black women entering America’s criminal justice systems where education is rarely available and typically undervalued. America remains the world’s largest jailer and women are proportionately the fastest growing population in its prisons. This course will examine the factors that create women’s pathways into the criminal legal system and how higher education might act as an intervention at any point along the continuum. How does interaction with the criminal justice system shapes future outcomes for women with previously poor educational outcomes? What educational interventions are effective in criminal justice settings? What are the core practices that lead to these women’s success in educational programs, particularly college? What short, mid-range, and long term outcomes are achieved when such opportunities are available?
Course dates: Sept 16, 23, 30; Oct 7, 14, 21, 28; Nov 4, 11, 18
