Title

Community College Faculty Attitudes Toward Their Inmate Learners in Texas

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Department

Higher Edu and Learning Technology

Date of Award

Summer 2013

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of community college faculty toward their inmate learners in Texas. An additional purpose of this study was to determine if the attitudes of Texas community college correctional education faculty differ in relation to years of teaching experience in correctional education, years of teaching experience in the private or public sector, part-time and full-time status, educational level, custodial level, gender of the inmate, and the gender and race of the correctional educator. The data in this study came from eight community colleges in Texas that offer Texas degree-seeking prisoners courses in postsecondary education that lead to an associate's degree. The Attitudes Toward Prisoners Scale, developed by Dr. Paul Bestolarides (1993), was used to assess the attitudes of postsecondary community college academic correctional educators in Texas. The Likert scale instrument contained 20 attitudinal statements toward prisoners. Overall, postsecondary community college correctional educators in Texas have a moderately positive attitude toward their inmate learners. This study added to the research in correctional education on the collegiate level, specifically as it related to community college faculty attitudes toward their inmate learners and the importance of educating prisoners beyond the vocational level.

Advisor

Jon E. Travis

Subject Categories

Education | Educational Technology

Link to Full Text
COinS