4 - Literary Programs in Prison - Students Version

Week 4 : Literacy Programs in Prisons
“How Prison Literacy Programs Can Fix America’s Mass Incarceration Problem”
There are times when being ranked number one in the world is no cause for celebration—and
that’s the unfortunate case for the United States’ staggering incarceration rate, which is five to ten times
higher than incarceration rates in other democratic nations. With only 5 percent of the global population,
the United States houses nearly a quarter of the world’s prisoners: an estimated 2.2 million people living
behind bars.
Education and literacy—along with poverty, race, and gender—have a big impact on the
likelihood that a person will spend time in prison. A study from Northeastern University found that young
men who dropped out of high school were 47 times more likely to be jailed than college graduates. And a
National Research Council report found a clear link between level of education and imprisonment,
especially for black and Hispanic men. For example, the report estimates that in 2010, one in three young
black men who had dropped out of high school was incarcerated.
Experts call this the school-to-prison pipeline, and it’s clear that it can impact whole families.
After all, parents who are sent to prison lose more than their freedom—they lose the ability to nurture and
support their children on a day-to-day basis. In turn, kids with incarcerated parents often struggle with
their grades and are more likely to be suspended or expelled from school. They’re also more likely to be
incarcerated themselves one day. [...]
Shaina Watrous is one of many people trying to improve those skills. She’s the D.C. field manager
for the Petey Greene Program, a nonprofit organization that trains college students to tutor prisoners in
five states and Washington, D.C.
“The first time I went to a prison to tutor, I was working with someone who was 35 years old and
English was his first language,” Watrous recalls. “I was working with him on flashcards with four- or
five-letter words, where he was struggling to read everything. I just remember thinking about all the
systems that had to have failed this man for him to get to that point. We talk about giving prisoners a
second chance—but so many people in prison have never had a first chance.”
There’s broad political consensus that mass incarceration is a major problem—and that education
programs in prisons should be part of the solution. Researchers from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Rand
Corporation found that inmates who took part in education programs had 43 percent lower odds of re-
offending when they got out of prison. That’s a big deal because, on average, about half of all inmates re-
offend and are re-incarcerated within three years of their release.
But in the last two decades, funding for prison education programs has fluctuated. Most states still
offer adult basic education, GED1 courses, and vocational training in at least some of their prisons, and
many offer college courses, too. However, the 2008 recession led to cutbacks—translating into fewer
classes, fewer inmates enrolled, and less staff support.
Jenna Flannigan, Dec 18th 2015,

https://www.good.is/articles/prison-literacy-programs-help-break-incarceration-cycle
1
‘General Equivalency Diploma’ : an official certificate that people who did not finish high school can get, after
taking classes and passing a test.
I. WRITTEN COMPREHENSION
1. Present the document (nature, source, topic, arguments…)
2. Pick up about 10 to 15 words that you don’t understand in the text, translate them and make sure you
learn them !
II. ORAL COMPREHENSION
Watch the video entitled « Jimmy Santiago Baca : Words have the Power to Change the
World”, from the beginning to 3 minutes 11, then answer the following the questions :
1. According to what you understand from the video, complete the following grid about the poet Jimmy
Santiago Baca:
Childhood
Age, place and

time of
incarceration
Literacy level
Career after his

prison years
2. Complete the following sentences according to what you hear:

→ The first book that opened up the world of reading for him was ………………………….…….……….
→ Jimmy Santiago Baca learned that “if you take one word, you ………………………….……………...
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
→ When he was capable of ………………………………….…….., of ………………………………… ,

of ……………………………….. and of ……………………………….., he read his first entire book by
Turgenev.
3. Summarize what Jimmy Santiago Baca says about the English Romantic poets, and William
Wordsworth in particular.

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Week 4 : Literacy Programs in Prisons

Jenna Flannigan, Dec 18th 2015,

1. Present the document (nature, source, topic, arguments…)

II. ORAL COMPREHENSION

Age, place and

Career after his

2. Complete the following sentences according to what you hear:

→ When he was capable of ………………………………….…….., of ………………………………… ,

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