This paints a bleak picture but this is not the reality for every juvenile detention center. There are places that have noticed the need for a better school and implemented it. The Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center School is in a wing attached to the center. Their student to teacher ratio is small, allowing for individualized attention with education tailored to their needs and interests, a system that has encouraged a desire to learn and has allowed them to see the benefit of education. They use project-based learning which allows for more creativity and problem-solving than a more formal, lecture-based class allows. They work towards getting their GED and apply to local colleges and have hopeful outlooks on their futures. This school…show more content… Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice created the Correctional Education Guidance Package, a tool juvenile correctional facilities can use to better their schools. It provides guiding principles for effective, high-quality education for juvenile delinquents, educates personnel on how best to ensure the rights and proper education of children with special needs, clarify a policy prohibiting discrimination, and gives resources for the children to apply for Pell grants. These are not set standards and so they are not enforced across the nation, but it is a new resource for juvenile detention centers to use in order to improve the lives of the children residing in the facilities. It is one step towards improving juvenile correctional education nationwide (Correctional Education,…show more content… In an ideal world, every child would receive a high-quality education that sets them up for success, but that is not reality. Studies have shown that low-achieving children are at higher risk to offend, and a disproportionate number of special needs kids are placed in juvenile detention centers. Although these children may be low-achieving that does not mean they are not intelligent or lost cases. Any child can be successful with the proper nurturing. Unfortunately, even though the juvenile justice system claims to promote rehabilitation, these children often fall through the cracks, particularly when it comes to their education. Due to the lack of government oversight that public schools have, schools in juvenile detention centers have no check on them, allowing them to not meet standards. These lack of standards means that the students rarely get a quality education. Uncertified teachers, lack of room and resources, a miniscule number of hours of schooling, incomplete curriculum, no accounting for different ability levels, and no system set up for special needs students leaves these students severely educationally deprived, and that’s only the children that receive any form of education. This education
