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Institutional Education
Contact Information
Institutional Education
Washington state provides K–12 basic education services to incarcerated and previously incarcerated juveniles. The goal is to provide these students the opportunity to meet the same learning standards that all children in the state are expected to meet. OSPI oversees all nine Educational Service Districts and more than 25 school districts that provide these services to six programs:
- Residential habilitation centers
- Long term juvenile institutions
- Community facilities
- County detention centers
- Department of Corrections
- County and city jails
Vision
To provide a safe and compassionate learning environment that empowers students to become productive citizens.
Mission
To engage in collaborative activism that will result in improved learning and performance of correctional education leaders, staff and students.
Funding for the programs is provided at the federal and the state level. Title I, Part D of the Every Student Succeeds Act specifies that federal funds are allocated to state education agencies. The funds are used to provide services needed to make a successful transition from institutionalization to further schooling, training or employment; to prevent at-risk youth from dropping out of school; and to provide them with a support system to ensure their continued education.
Because institutional education is a part of basic education, the state also provides funding to the programs. The funding is based on a formula calculated on pupil-to-staff funding ratios, but that formula hasn't changed enough to reflect the current needs of the students. In response, OSPI has in recent years convened two workgroups and published reports from each:
- 2011: This workgroup recommended changes in three areas: program design/implementation, funding and accountability.
- 2016: This workgroup recommended changes in the funding formulas for institutional education to bring the students closer to general education students' funding.
- 2020: This is an update to the 2016 Institutional Education Funding Report. The workgroup recommendations include transitioning to a prototypical school funding model and providing funding for special education.
2020–21
Fall Training
Cancelled
Winter Training
February 4–5, 2021
Location: Virtual
Host: Deb Drandoff, ESD 112
Spring Training
May, 2021
Location: TBD
Host: Pending 2021 Student Support Conference
Summer Training
August 5–6, 2021
Location: TBD
OSPI Links
Literacy Programs
Guides & Manuals
State Legislation
- Education programs for juveniles in adult jails
- Residential Education Programs
- Education Programs for Juvenile Inmates
- Certificate of Educational Competence (GED)
- State Institutional Education Program Funding
State Organizations
- Washington State Institute for Public Policy
- Washington Correctional Association
- Washington Association of Juvenile Court Administrators
- Washington Courts
Legislative Reports & Studies
- Needs of Inmates Under 21 years in Adult Correctional Facilities
- Alternatives for Offender Access to Post-Secondary and Vocational Education
- Notification to Schools of Registered Juvenile Sex or Kidnapping Offenders
- Training for School Staff on Juvenile Sex and Kidnapping Offenders: House Bill 2101
National Resources
- National Center on Education, Disability, and Juvenile Justice
- Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
- U.S. Dept. of Education
- Correctional Education Association
- Neglected-Delinquent Technical Assistance
- No Child Left Behind (or Elementary and Secondary Education Act)
- National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges
- National Criminal Justice Reference Service
- Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
- CEA Three-State Recidivism Study