Post April 4, 2025
Redefining Discipline
How College in Prison Transforms Lives and Carceral Culture
Tool
Student Voice and Feedback
October 23, 2023
At a Glance
By empowering students to voice their opinions and concerns, student surveys can help colleges gain insights into curriculum effectiveness, instructional methods, and support services.
By empowering students to voice their opinions and concerns, student surveys can help colleges gain insights into curriculum effectiveness, instructional methods, and support services. The same applies to prison education programs, where student feedback can help programs tailor course offerings to student needs and interests, refine instructional methods and support services, as well as identify post-release support needs. By valuing students’ perspectives, colleges foster personal growth, rehabilitation, and successful reentry into society.
Common College Student Feedback Surveys
Developing surveys to collect student feedback for prison education programs can require time and resources; however, prison education programs can leverage common preexisting surveys at their institutions. Examples include the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). More than 2,200 colleges and universities use the NSSE and CCSSE to:
- Assess and enhance undergraduate education quality
- Direct resources toward effective teaching, curriculum, and support services
- Compare performance with peer institutions, such as engagement and learning across institutions
- Demonstrate accountability and commitment to ongoing improvement and data-driven decisions
These surveys focus on measuring student engagement, which research has shown to be a strong predictor of academic success and personal development. They measure engagement indicators such as:
- Active and collaborative learning
- Student-faculty interactions
- Academic challenges
- Supportive campus environment
Other Campus Surveys
Prison education programs can also benefit from building upon other existing surveys on campus, including:
- Course evaluation surveys, which assess the effectiveness of individual courses, instructional methods, and instructors during and at the end of a course
- Academic advising surveys, which assess the need for and effectiveness of guidance and support in course selection and academic planning at the college
- Career advising surveys, which evaluate the quality and impact of services related to job searching, resume development, and interview preparation for current students
- Graduation surveys, which gather feedback on overall satisfaction with academic programs and areas for improvement and collect information on students’ post-graduation plans (e.g., employment, graduate school)
- Alumni surveys, which collect feedback on program effectiveness, employment outcomes, and suggestions for ongoing improvement
By adapting these preexisting surveys for the unique context of prison education programs, institutions can efficiently collect essential feedback, save time and resources in survey development, and identify the needs of incarcerated students. It is important to note that, while surveys can be used to collect student feedback, prison education programs likely face additional barriers with addressing feedback, particularly if changes to facility or department of corrections policies and practices are needed. These surveys can nonetheless generate findings that can be used to advocate for policy changes and shape practices and processes during the design and implementation phases of a program.
Prison Education Program Surveys
Many prison education programs prioritize incorporating student feedback at various stages and through different methods to ensure the student voice remains central to their programs. For instance, many Ready for Pell (R4P) grantees reported using student interests and needs to inform their decisions regarding course offerings and programs of study during program establishment. While some grantees gathered this information through informal conversations, others developed and employed surveys to learn about students’ aspirations and career goals. A prevalent survey among R4P grantees is the course evaluation survey, which comes after the program is already being implemented and is typically administered at the end of each term.
Prison education programs can also develop their own surveys and procedures to collect data about student needs and planning for after release. For example, Lee College, a prison education program not affiliated with R4P, conducts a reentry needs assessment to collect data on students’ housing, transportation, prior education, intentions to continue education, and job skills. This comprehensive approach enables the institution to identify the specific challenges that incarcerated students might encounter upon reentry, which can lead to the development of effective support services and educational programs.
Designing and Adapting Surveys for Prison Education Programs
Whether designing or adapting college surveys for prison education programs, the following factors can affect their relevance and effectiveness in capturing incarcerated students’ unique experiences:
Technology considerations
Surveys may need to remove or adjust questions related to technology access as needed, given the varying levels of technology available in prison settings.
Course-related questions
Questions mentioning honors courses, internships, or field experiences may need to be revised or removed, as applicable.
Time-management questions
Questions measuring time spent on college-sponsored organizations, sports, family care, or commuting may need to be changed to reflect activities that are relevant to the prison environment.
Department of Corrections support and interactions
Although many college surveys evaluate interactions with college staff and instructors, it may be worth adding questions related to interactions with department of corrections staff and prison facility support, as these factors may significantly influence incarcerated students’ educational experiences.
Survey administration
The survey administration mode may need to be adapted to accommodate the prison setting, taking into account factors such as limited internet access; the need for paper-based surveys and appropriate space to complete the survey; and secure, confidential data-collection methods.
Privacy concerns
Surveys should include language that clearly explains the purpose of the survey to students, addresses any concerns about privacy that students may have up front, and specifies who will have access to survey results and how those results will be used.
Not all colleges and universities employ the NSSE or CCSSE to collect data from students, and prison education programs will need to contact their institutional research (IR) office to determine whether their college or university uses this resource. Additionally, prison education programs will need to work with their IR office and department of corrections to develop survey administration strategies appropriate for students who are incarcerated.
Prison education programs should note that surveys such as the NSSE and CCSSE may not be able to adapt the content of the questions and should work with their IR office on these data-collection efforts.
Prison education programs should contact their IR office to determine what surveys are being administered across their college or university.
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