CHAPTER 9
High Volume, Measurable, Computer Assisted Substance Abuse/ Rehabilitation Programs Specific To Large Prison Populations.
by: Jerry Marzinsky BA M.Ed.
CHAPTER 9
High Volume, Measurable, Computer Assisted Substance Abuse/ Rehabilitation Programs Specific To Large Prison Populations.
by: Jerry Marzinsky BA M.Ed.
   
|
    |
   
|
CHAPTER 9 - ADDRESSING STAFF BURN OUT THROUGH SOFTWARE DESIGN: |
(1) Attempts to maintain program validity by paper and pencil testing of programmed material within the prison environment repeatedly failed. Aside from the ease with which prisoners could steal tests and develop cheat sheets to circumvent valid testing, one of the other major problems was staff burn out. Program managers faced with the boring and time consuming weekly prospect of grading hundreds of inmate tests quickly tired and applied for other job responsibilities. The problems encountered with staff burn out by attempting to maintain program validity with manually tested programs were solved by computer automated testing, scoring and data banking of all test information. Providing a computer assist to validly test large correctional programs resulted in turning one of the most painful, time consuming and boring counselor tasks, the maintenance of program validity, into one of the easiest and most productive. With computers doing virtually all the work, all that remained for the program manager to do was to start and shut down the computers and monitor the testing lab during operation. (2) Computerization of program testing reduced staff burn out in a number of other ways. Since inmates were prevented from cheating, staff no longer had to contend with the tense situations associated with confronting potentially violent inmate cheaters caught in the act. (3) Incessant inmate attempts to manipulate staff into giving higher scores than were deserved were nullified. Inmates knowing that they could not con or manipulate computerized programs, did not try. (4) Inmate arguments with staff over the unfairness of particular test questions were eliminated by purposely not giving feedback to inmates with regard to the specific questions they missed. Prisoners were permitted to take tests over at a later time to increase their scores if they were not satisfied with previous results. (5) The software interface was designed to be user friendly so as not to intimidate non-computer literate prison personnel. (6) The system proved so efficient that it required very little staff time be diverted from traditional work responsibilities for the operation of large programs. |
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|