Excel Center Helps People Who Are Incarcerated Earn High School Diplomas

Almost 90 percent of U.S. adults have a high school degree or General Educational Development (GED) credential. For people who are incarcerated, that number is only about 60 percent. An estimated 95 percent of those in prison will be released at some point, and the barriers they face in rebuilding their lives are vast, said Theresa Rappaport, superintendent of the Excel Center Adult High School, a free education and job training program operated by Goodwill Central Texas. 

The center operates three campuses within correctional facilities in Texas designed to help people who are incarcerated earn their high school diplomas. Called Justice Education Campuses, the programming is currently offered at Billy Moore Correctional Center, the Coleman Unit for Women in Lockhart and Diboll Correctional Center.

“There are barriers that include things like general stigma of having a background that limits job opportunities and access to resources to just being able to rebuild their life when they’re also trying to meet the stipulations of maintaining their parole,” Rappaport told TriplePundit. 

There are more than 219,000 people in prisons, jails, immigration detention, and juvenile justice facilities in Texas, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. Nearly half of the 40,000 people released from Texas state prisons annually are rearrested within three years, according to the nonpartisan public policy research and advocacy nonprofit Texas 2036.

Access to education has the potential to change that. People who participate in educational programs while they are incarcerated are 43 percent less likely to return to prison and 13 percent more likely to find employment after their release, according to an analysis by the public policy research organization Rand.

“Because of the wide variety of barriers that these individuals are facing, we come at it with a multifaceted approach,” Rappaport said. “Our entire program is designed to address the individual needs of students.”

Those enrolled in the Excel Center programs work with a student success coach who makes sure they have everything they need to successfully complete their education, Rappaport said. 

“On top of that, we want to make sure that our students who are incarcerated and who will be transitioning back to their communities also have a high level of support,” Rappaport said. “We have what we call our reentry transition coordinator, and he works with those individuals, and with the campus teams that work with those students, to help guide them through that transition. Regardless of where that individual is going to be released, he works very closely with them to make sure they are connected to those resources, whether it be that they’re in Houston, Dallas or Lubbock.”

The Excel Center’s partnerships with Management Training Corporation (MTC), one of the private prison operators in Texas, and the Windham School District, a statewide school district providing educational services to the incarcerated, are crucial, Rappaport said. 

“Our partnership with MTC has allowed us to expand into new campuses and to provide this opportunity to as many students as possible,” Rappaport said. “We work hand in hand with Windham to find new partnerships.”

Those new partnerships include working with community colleges in different areas to enable incarcerated students in the Excel Center’s high school program to earn credits that apply to both their high school diploma and a college degree, Rappaport said. 

“Then once they’ve graduated, while they’re still incarcerated, they could then go on and enroll in college and continue their education,” Rappaport said.

But the Excel Center’s efforts are constrained by limited funding, staff shortages and inconsistent support systems.

“There are other constraints when working inside a correctional facility, like accessing the internet, but our teachers and staff are very creative and have found ways to always meet our student needs,” Rappaport said. “They often tailor curriculum delivery to engage students in this non-traditional setting, utilizing project-based learning and technology where possible. Their ability to foster a supportive, growth-oriented classroom despite these challenges is key to keeping students motivated and focused on their long-term goals.”