NCJ Number
208398
Journal
Journal of Correctional Education Volume: 55 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2004 Pages: 321-333
Date Published
December 2004
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This article describes a short-term reading intervention for incarcerated youths.
Abstract
Incarcerated youth are one of the most educationally underserved populations in the United States. Previous research has estimated that most incarcerated youth read at a fourth grade level and function roughly 4 years behind their non-incarcerated peers. Despite the evidence that literacy can reduce recidivism, scant research has focused on effective educational programming for adjudicated youth. The current article describes a cost-effective, short-term reading intervention for adjudicated youth. The reading intervention occurred in Southern Colorado at the State juvenile detention facility. Participants were 10 male and 2 female juveniles with a fourth grade median reading level; 10 juveniles were identified as students with disabilities. The one-on-one tutoring method was based on proven strategies and included sufficient time-on-task, engaging reading material, pre-teaching, oral reading with error correction, and firming. The results, as measured by two subtests of the Gray Oral Reading Test, indicated that the participants gained three times the number of correct words per minute per week of instruction than was expected. The findings thus suggest that relatively short-term reading programs that rely on commonly available materials and proven strategies can greatly impact the reading skills of incarcerated youth. Figures, references, appendix