Closing the College Gap: Initiating a Pre-College Academy Behind Bars
Kristi Levy, Education Supervisor at Oshkosh Correctional Institution
DJ Hinz, Pre-College Academy Teacher at Oshkosh Correctional Institution
Chris Willems, Higher Ed Coordinator at Oshkosh Correctional Institution
In the fall of 2024, Oshkosh Correctional Institution began a partnership with Prison Education Initiative, UW-Green Bay, eight students, and one course. Two years later, that partnership had grown into a full-fledged degree earning program with nearly 15 students on their way to earning a bachelor's degree. There was just one problem – most of them had earned a GED while incarcerated and were missing key foundational Literacy skills needed to succeed at the college level. Join us for an overview of how we solved for one of our Higher Education program’s biggest challenges by implementing a Pre-College Academy. Attendees will also get a glimpse into how this shed light on gaps in preparing students for all of our post-secondary offerings and how we are working to “future-proof" our programming through improved vertical alignment in Literacy and Math. In this session you will learn what we have implemented, hear our key takeaways, and benefit from our lessons learned along the way.
