If schools in juvenile-justice facilities are a young person’s last chance to get back on track, our latest research shows that these institutions are failing. Students in juvenile-justice facilities often don’t have access to even the most basic classes, and Native American youth in these settings are more disadvantaged than others.

The public wouldn’t even know about these disparities if the two most recent Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) surveys hadn’t included questions about the quality of education in juvenile-justice facilities. These are schools that serve youth who have been arrested or adjudicated and placed in secure or residential care by law enforcement or a court.

Bellwether Education Partners recently conducted an analysis, with support from the National Indian Education Association, that looked at race-based disparities and students’ overall access to math and science courses, “credit recovery” and dual enrollment programs, and other hallmarks of a high-quality education.

What we found is bleak: Many juvenile-justice schools do not even offer the courses that a student needs to complete his or her freshman year of high school, and Native American youth are among the most poorly served in these facilities.

Read the full article about juvenile-justices schools by Max Marchitello and Diana Cournoyer at The Hechinger Report.