This Strengthening Education in Short-Term Juvenile Detention Center (SEJDC) Manual intends to provide JDC educators, staff, and leadership with examples of promising and research-driven strategies for consideration when implementing education practices in JDCs.
JDC educators include school teachers, administrators, and support staff who directly provide or supervise youth academic learning opportunities; JDC staff are non-school staff responsible for non-school duties, such as security, transition coordination, and mental health services. This SEJDC Manual guides improvements to increase the effectiveness of the educational supports when the scores of the Quality Assurance Tool (QAT) suggest improvement is needed. The SEJDC Manual and QAT are aligned with five guiding principles that emerged from Federal research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice. The guiding principles are 1) positive climate, 2) community engagement, 3) highly effective classroom practices, 4) academic engagement, and 5) coordinated transition supports. Positive climate pertains to environment, specialized staff, and behavior and discipline. Community engagement involves connections to resources, connections to treatment and intervention services, and career connections. Highly effective classroom practices involve staff recruitment and professional development. Academic engagement concerns instructional approaches, the contextualizing of education, transition-focused instruction, and incentives. Coordinated transition supports consist of transition planning, transition partners, and the partnership between the JDC and community schools. 12 references