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National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk
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NDTAC Guide: Making It Count: Strategies for Improving Mathematics Instruction for Students in Short-Term Facilities (PDF)
Research shows that youth in juvenile justice facilities tend to have lower academic skill levels than their nonincarcerated peers, often compounded by a history of negative school experiences. This guide provides recommendations along with related strategies and examples to assist teachers, administrators, and program coordinators in navigating the challenges faced by youth in short-term facilities and in implementing research-based instruction to improve mathematics proficiency.
NDTAC Guide: Meeting the Literacy Needs of Students in Juvenile Justice Facilities (PDF)
Students who are unable to read when released from a correctional facility often face a host of social and economic difficulties, including future unemployment and welfare dependence. This guide builds upon NDTAC's previously published issue brief on literacy by providing five research-based recommendations and numerous strategies designed to assist administrators, teachers, and Title I, Part D, coordinators in improving literacy skills and outcomes for these youth.
Safe and Supportive Learning Environments
A safe and supportive learning environment can improve attendance and achievement—including rates of high school graduation—for students in both community schools and juvenile justice facilities. NDTAC’s Safe and Supportive Learning Environments Web page offers resources to help providers improve learning environments through discipline, behavior and classroom management, engagement, and school safety.
Library Categories
View another topic in NDTAC's Library:
Strategies, Models, and Innovations
NDTAC Issue Brief: The Importance of Literacy for Youth Involved in the Juvenile Justice System
Youth who have low literacy skills generally face significant barriers to economic and social success and are more likely to be involved in the juvenile justice system. In addition, if these youth are incarcerated and their literacy skills are not improved, outcomes tend to be negative. This issue brief illustrates the correlation between low literacy and involvement in the juvenile justice system and explores the impact of reading interventions on youth during and after incarceration.
NDTAC Practice Guide: Providing Individually Tailored Academic and Behavioral Support Services for Youth in the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems
This guide examines the importance of providing individually tailored academic and behavioral support services to foster better outcomes for system-involved youth. It is the second in a series of NDTAC practice guides that build on the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform monograph "Addressing the Unmet Educational Needs of Children and Youth in the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems."
Voices From the Field: Implementing Change to Motivate and Teach Students–An Interview with Lindy Kahn
Dr. Lindy Kahn, a juvenile and adult correctional educator for more than 20 years, shares her professional journey and how she utilized structural and programmatic changes to motivate her students to develop literacy skills.
Character-Based Literacy Program: A Curriculum for Youth in Detention
NDTAC provides an overview of the Character-Based Literacy Program (CBLP). CBLP focuses on replacing antisocial behaviors, thoughts, and values with prosocial behaviors, thoughts, and values. The program was developed at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University and is used in more than 215 schools in three States.
Arizona: Merging Two Worlds
NDTAC provides an overview of the Merging Two Worlds (M2W) curriculum. M2W is a transition and career exploration and planning curriculum designed to help students prepare for reintegration into the community, school, or workforce upon release from a secure care environment.
Tools
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NDTAC Assessment Toolkit: Measuring Student Academic Performance
NDTAC's Assessment Toolkit is designed to help State administrators and local program managers track and improve their academic assessment procedures and results for students who are neglected or delinquent. NDTAC has designed different versions of the Assessment Toolkit for State administrators and program managers at the local and facility levels.
Further Reading
School-Based Wraparound and Its Connection to Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports: A Component of Safe/Effective Schools for All Students
By building partnerships with schools, families, and community agencies, wraparound services and programs help youth achieve established goals and transition back into their home communities. The author provides readers with a basic understanding of the wraparound process by describing its basic elements and highlighting situations in which it is most useful. She also explains commonalities between wraparound and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports and how they improve student outcomes.
Preventing Youth Delinquency: Identifying School Risk and Protective Factors
Although a strong body of research on what makes a student at risk for delinquent behavior exists, few studies have examined the variables within schools that exacerbate or counteract these risks. The results of EDJJ's three multimethod studies suggest that school-level characteristics can help minimize the risks for youth delinquency. Using both quantitative and qualitative procedures, these studies examined three school characteristics related to delinquency.
Events & Presentations
Check out the Teaching and Learning section of NDTAC's Webinars page to view our most recent related Webinars and Webinar materials.
The Importance of Reading Literacy (June 2006)
Peter Leone, JoAnn Murphy, and Marcia Kingman discussed the importance of reading literacy in juvenile correctional education and explored some reading literacy programs currently in use in Neglected or Delinquent programs and facilities around the country.
Literacy and Transition Curricula, Part II (May 2005)
Mary Beth Curtis and Dorothy Wodraska presented information about two curricula for students who are neglected or delinquent: one focusing on increasing essential literacy skills, the other on preparing students for the critical transition from facilities back to community schools.
Educating Neglected or Delinquent Teachers and Students: Curricula and Literacy (April 2005)
Carol Cramer-Brooks and Robert Michels presented information about curricula for both teachers and students in the neglected or delinquent education system.