| As prison populations soar at unprecedented rates, the need for high quality education behind bars has never been greater. Prison education programs are the vehicle for reform and may be the solution to curtailing an ever-growing prison population. Yet, as the public sector increasingly contracts with the private sector for prison management, current comparative research has been unable to determine if private prisons are delivering comparable educational services to inmates. Results have shown that in some cases public prisons fare better, and in other cases private prisons are more successful in delivering quality services. Current comparative research also focuses primarily on cost comparisons and recidivism, rather than comparing programmatic outputs from an internal perspective.;This study aims at developing a systemic understanding of correctional education programs in publicly and privately managed facilities by raising four important questions: What inputs contribute to higher levels of education attainment of prisons? What processes contribute to higher levels of educational attainment in prisons? How are inputs and processes related in contributing to higher levels of educational attainment? And do public and private prisons differ in levels of educational attainment?;Measured by a logic framework, this research explores factors that impact the level of facility educational attainment at the national level. The samples consist of 52 selected private facilities, and 52 randomly selected public prisons from a 2000 Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities. The dependent variable is modeled upon four output variables, in addition to thirty independent variables grouped according to constructs at the organizational level. These variables are measured using multiple regression and correlation analysis to test the hypothetical assumptions. Questionnaires were administered to principals/administrators of education programs at each facility in the two samples, yielding a 55% response rate.;Findings from multiple regression analyses suggest that the private sector is not delivering better program outputs than public prisons. Furthermore, findings suggest that specific program factors in addition to the relationship among them, contribute to higher levels of facility educational attainment. |
