Intervew:
Tom O'Rourke
Associate Superintendent for Educational Programming at the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice

By Anju Sidana | asidana@air.org

In 1997, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) found the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ, or the department) to be noncompliant in 23 different areas of education. In 1998, the Georgia DJJ entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the DOJ to make improvements in the cited areas. The DJJ achieved its goal of Federal compliance in education within 6 years and, by continuing to build on the improvements it had made, was also able to earn accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) the next year.

The Georgia DJJ recently presented on the process of moving from non-compliance to accreditation at NDTAC's June Webinar on Teacher Quality. (View the entire Teacher Quality Webinar in streaming video or view the Georgia DJJ PowerPoint presentation.) To learn more about how the department achieved and maintains its goals, NDTAC talked to Dr. Tom O'Rourke, the Georgia DJJ Associate Superintendent of Educational Programming. Additional information and detail on Georgia's experience can be found in Dr. O'Rourke's article in the February 2003 issue of Corrections Today, "Improving the Odds for Incarcerated Youth."

What areas of education identified by DOJ were the most challenging for Georgia to address? Why? How did you overcome these challenges?

Special Education

Identification of youth and provision of services. According to Dr. O'Rourke, before entering into the MOA, the department was identifying only 11–12 percent of their youth as needing special education services, compared with the nearly 40 percent of youth that are currently identified as needing these services. The department initially lacked the necessary emphasis on the identification of youth with special education needs as well as the provision of services through an adequate number of certified special education teachers.

By immediately contacting local school sites to obtain all records related to special education, the department is now doing a much better job of identifying these students, said Dr. O'Rourke. Additionally, if teachers experience problems with any child not identified as needing special education services, a Student Support Team is put into place (as per Georgia law). Consisting of teachers, counselors, and others who work with the child, the team devises and implements a variety of strategies to be used with the student. If these are unsuccessful, the team then refers the child to be evaluated for special education needs.

Teacher certification. To meet Georgia's need for special education teachers in its facilities, the Georgia DJJ partnered with local Armstrong Atlantic State University (AASU) to put a Web-based teacher certification project in place. The project, funded by the DJJ, allows teachers certified in general education to become provisionally certified in special education. With provisional certification, teachers may continue teaching while earning full certification. In cohort groups of 20–30, teachers then participate in onsite, Web-based training through instructional modules designed by the DJJ and the university. The modules use a combination of mentor and CD instruction, with each mentor serving several of Georgia's 43 facilities. Once teachers pass the Praxis examination and receive their special education certification, they then have the option of applying their courses towards a master's degree at AASU. The teacher certification project allowed the department to better utilize its staff to meet the needs of special education students, said Dr. O'Rourke.

Curriculum

Alignment with State's core curriculum. Prior to entering into the MOA, Georgia DJJ students encountered difficulty in transitioning back to regular school systems due to the disconnect between the curriculum used in the facilities and the curriculum used in the public schools. The facilities used outdated textbooks, and classroom material did not always align with the State's core curriculum, said Dr. O'Rourke. To resolve the issue, the DJJ developed a new curriculum based on the Georgia Core Curriculum (GCC) and adopted new textbooks matching the GCC objectives. Activity sheets, course guides, and lesson plans were developed to meet the objectives of each course in the Georgia Bank of Courses, and these materials were placed on a shared Intranet to provide all facilities with easy access to appropriate materials.

Vocational Education

Expansion of vocational education opportunities. Many of the students in Georgia's juvenile justice facilities have problems reading and, along with older students, may not return to high school. These students are likely to benefit from vocational programming, said Dr. O'Rourke, estimating that in long-term facilities, fully 90 percent of the students participate in vocational education courses. "A significant percentage will try to get their GEDs, depending on their age," he said. "We're trying to give these kids as many skills as we can to be successful."

In order to improve the existing opportunities available to students, the Georgia DJJ entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education. Under this agreement, five technical colleges provide teachers to teach at the long-term juvenile justice facilities. Students who participate in the vocational program may get dual credits for the courses; credits may be applied to high school for those students who wish to get their diplomas and/or to a technical college (after students pass an exam) for students who wish to pursue a technical degree. View additional information on the role and progression of Georgia's vocational education program.

Behavior Management

Management of students who are disruptive in the classroom. Although behavior management continues to be a challenge, the Georgia DJJ has found success with a behavior management program called Alternative Education Placement Model (AEPM). With AEPM, disruptive students are isolated in a different setting within the facility, such as a vacant classroom or study carrel, but are provided the same lessons and the lesson plans given in the regular classroom (specifically via the Georgia DJJ's Curriculum Activity Packets [CAPS] system). (More information on the CAPS system can be found in Dr. O'Rourke's article, "Improving the Odds for Incarcerated Youth (PDF).")

"AEPM is like an in-school suspension program," said Dr. O'Rourke. The amount of time any student is initially assigned to an isolated setting depends on the nature of the disruption, and a student remains in the setting until such time as the student modifies his or her behavior. "An AEPM room is not very nice," said Dr. O'Rourke. Students are seated facing a wall and are given strict rules under the supervision of a corrections officer. Students are rewarded for good behavior, such as staying on task and completing their work, by being allowed to return more quickly to be with their peers in the regular classroom.

Having achieved Federal compliance and knowing what you know now about that process, what would you have done differently? What advice would you offer States that are at risk for being investigated?

Prepare yourself.

Call someone who has previously gone through the process to find out what hurdles had to be overcome.

Dr. O'Rourke expressed his willingness to answer questions other States may have about Georgia's experience. "We have some great models that we use and can show others," said Dr. O'Rourke, citing in particular Georgia's models for behavior management and curriculum development. Dr. O'Rourke also suggested the possibility of providing States seeking Georgia's help with access to view the department's training CDs, as well as temporary access to the department's education Intranet system.

Take a look at the State education standards.

How closely does your education program meet the standards?

Come up with a plan.

Dr. O'Rourke mentioned the following as being essential to Georgia's plan:

• Data Driven. Georgia's DJJ used the citations by the DOJ (along with findings from its own needs assessment) as a guide in developing its plan.
• Goal Driven. Georgia's DJJ appointed a steering committee which came up with a mission statement, goals, and a comprehensive plan. The committee ensured that the department's actions did not deviate from the goals and mission along the way.
  
  As part of this plan, the department was committed to wisely using the resources provided by the State legislature in response to the lawsuit.

States sometimes have difficulty maintaining their compliance status once they have come out of a consent decree. How has Georgia maintained the improvements that it has made? What are the secrets to Georgia's success?

According to Dr. O'Rourke, the following elements were key to the department's success:

Policies that hold everything together.

The department systematically implemented five major policies relating to their program. While these policies are sometimes refined, they serve as the foundation for the school system.

1. DJJ School District— defines what the DJJ school district is comprised of, including facilities, the length of the school day, etc.
2. School Attendance — defines how students get to the schools and how and why they may be excluded (such as for personal illness, death, court order, religious holiday, etc.)
3. Disciplinary Exclusion from School — regulates the reasons for, and duration of, student exclusion from school for disciplinary reasons
4. Education Programming Services — encompasses all services the DJJ provides to students, including testing programs, placement guidelines, grading, vocational education, etc.
5. Right to Education— relates primarily to special education programming, including individualized education programs (IEPs), special education requirements, student entry to special education programs, etc.

Curriculum that is aligned with State standards

• The curriculum in Georgia's facilities is aligned with State standards and is easily accessible from the Intranet system, allowing personnel the ability to quickly download the appropriate lessons for their students. This system maintains consistency in the education program throughout all of the school sites.
• The vocational education program is aligned with program offerings in the technical colleges throughout the State.

Quality assurance system.

The Georgia DJJ Office of Education closely monitors its programs for quality assurance. For monitoring purposes, the State is divided into regions. For example:

• Special education— Each region has a special education technical assistant (a certified special educator) who visits and monitors the sites to ensure the sites are meeting Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requirements.
• School sites— In each region, a regional principal oversees the detention centers and submits quarterly reports that detail the strengths and weaknesses of each center.

Teacher training

• Training CDs are used on an ongoing basis; new employees are required to view the CDs and pass a test with a certain minimum grade.
• Teachers are periodically brought together for statewide meetings to discuss relevant issues, such as the SACS accreditation standards.

***

In its conversion from noncompliance to accreditation, Georgia shows how States can use a variety of strategies to turn negative experiences into positive ones. Dr. O'Rourke will be available to answer further questions about Georgia's experiences during his poster session at the 2006 National OJJDP conference in January (PowerPoint).

 

Published December 2005

For more information on the issues covered in this interview, please see Dr. O'Rourke's article on "Improving the Odds for Incarcerated Youth (PDF)," published in the February 2003 issue of Corrections Today.

Georgia DJJ Web site

Georgia's 1998 Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice

Additional information on the role and transformation of Georgia's vocational education program may be found on the Web site for the Association for Career and Technical Education.

Additional information on Georgia's transition program can be found in the article, "Think Exit at Entry (PDF)."

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