CGI U 2013 at Washington University in St. Louis

Correctional Education Reform Through Technology

Xiaochang Song, undergrad in the School of Engineering and Arts & Sciences

Song is committed to improving academic and vocational education in the St. Louis County Jail and St. Louis County Juvenile Detention through the building of fully equipped computer labs. Song wants to implement the Khan Academy, an online educational resource popular among college and high school students. The site provides high quality instructional videos in a broad range of academic subjects.

The Correctional Education Reform Through Technology program focuses on customized learning for each student, peer mentorship and tutoring by select Washington University faculty and students.

The goal of the Correctional Education Reform Through Technology program is to equip the inmates of St. County Jail and St. Louis County Juvenile Detention with the literacy, mathematics and critical thinking skills necessary in order to obtain their GEDs.

The number of inmates who obtain GEDs will be the primary metric for the success of this program. The commitment’s goal will be to have 150 inmates in both the St. Louis County Jail and St. Louis Juvenile Detention Center obtain their GEDs within two years.

The aim is to reduce the rate of relapse to 15 percent for those inmates who partake in this program, compared to the 54 percent average for inmates in Missouri, as reported by the Pew Center.