The End of the Beginning

A pilot class in personal financial management using The Richest Man in New Babylon as a text and the accompanying Workbook was completed this month at the North Central Correctional Institution in Gardner, MA. The class was offered as part of the GED/College Prep educational program.

Since this was the first use of the materials, there were some mid-course corrections as the class was rolled out. After experimenting with the time the classes should run, they settled into a simple one-hour weekly format. The test run encompassed ten sessions, but as the program evolves, that may be expanded. There are plans to provide leaders with additional support materials, to develop a better set of lesson plans, and to provide test materials that are better designed for take-home use and faster evaluation.

This was the first run. There are lots of places we can improve. But here is the big takeaway: The students responded very favorably to the materials—both the medium and the message.

The Verdict: It Works

There was near-unanimous agreement that the approach—telling a story about a young man returning from incarceration—was relatable and believable. The men saw that the young man’s journey offered lessons they could benefit from. The men appreciated the way that the young man’s journey ended with a positive vision; that his hard work paid off. And it even showed the role that they could play in helping other men like themselves.

Men talked about how the book was creating “a buzz” in the facility; how some of the men they discussed it with were wondering when they would be able to take the class. One of the participants made a point of sharing the fact that he was a librarian now; he had lent his copy of the book to another resident. He made it clear it was a loan—he wanted his copy of the book back.

What These Readers Think: Their Own Words

For the record, here is a link to transcripts of what men wrote in their assessments of the book and the class. Note that these are their unedited comments. We did not exclude any of the “reviews” because they were negative. It is raw data and it surely is a small sample size, but the results, we believe, are very encouraging.

Additionally, if you visit the review page, you will find a handful of reviews provided by women who read The Richest Man in New Babylon as a library book at the Taconic Correctional Facility in Bedford Hills, NY. Their reviews were also generally positive and highlighted the need for a similar story told from a woman’s perspective—something that is “on our list” for the future.

What’s Next

The response of the men to the program in Gardner was so positive that the leader of the GED/College Prep support team for the State of Massachusetts has already decided to roll the class out in the fall at four additional institutions in the state. And in the meantime, we are working to get the book and materials approved for use in the general education programs for the state.

So—here’s where we stand.

We’ve got a book that has passed an initial test with real students. It seems that it did better than “pass”—it aced this first exam. The supporting material needs to be improved, and that is already happening. We learned a lot with this first test.

We need additional pilot programs. If you are involved in corrections education, take a look at the reviews and ask yourself if this is the kind of material that could be of a real benefit to your students.

If you are in the reentry support community, don’t you think this is something that could be a very useful support tool?

If you would like to work with us to get this material out to more students and members of the reentry community, please contact us by email.