Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s School of Education earned the 2026 Imogene Okes Award for Outstanding Research in Adult Education for their study on how higher education in prison can transform students’ relationships with learning. The American Association for Adult and Continuing Education presented the award.

The award recognizes “‘I am a Learner:’ How Higher Education in Prison Changes Students’ Relationship to Education,” written by Rosemary S. Russ, Christine M. Pribbenow, and Valerie D. Nguyen. The study examines how students enrolled in college courses offered inside correctional institutions experience and understand education.

Using life-history interviews conducted before and after college coursework with 24 students, the researchers found that students could move from negative previous experiences with education toward seeing themselves as engaged and capable learners. The research suggests that higher education in prison is an opportunity not only to acquire knowledge or credentials but also to reshape students’ relationships with learning.

“For many of the students we spoke with, their earlier educational experiences had shaped a sense that school wasn’t a place where they belonged or could be successful,” said Pribbenow, a senior scientist within WCER. “What is powerful about these findings is seeing how access to meaningful college learning can begin to change that. Students start to recognize themselves as learners and take greater ownership of their education.”

The Imogene Okes Award is given annually for original research that makes a significant contribution to the advancement of adult and continuing education. Winning research must demonstrate high standards of scholarship and have significant implications for the field.

“What stood out to us in working on this research was that students weren’t simply describing what they had learned in their courses. They were describing a change in how they understood themselves as learners,” said Russ. “Their experiences show why it’s important to think about access to higher education in prison not only in terms of academic outcomes, but also in terms of the ways education can shift someone’s sense of what they are capable of learning.”

Russ is a professor in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum & Instruction whose research examines how education programs for system-impacted individuals can disrupt the inequitable dynamics, particularly around who gets to be seen as a knower. To learn more about the criminal legal system from the inside, Russ has also worked with Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO) of Wisconsin and coordinated the tutoring program in the Dane County Jail.

As a scientist within the School of Education’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research, Pribbenow studies student and faculty learning and educational programming in both K-12 and postsecondary education institutions. Previous projects include understanding the effects of racial bias on minoritized populations in STEMM, assessing institutional and department climate, and evaluating teaching and learning interventions. She currently conducts evaluation and research for the Prison Education Initiative.

Nguyen played a critical role in interviewing incarcerated students as a research specialist in the UW–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health’s Incarceration and Mental Health Lab. She is currently a doctoral student in clinical psychology at East Tennessee State University studying stigma related to incarceration, homelessness, and mental health.

The award was presented Oct. 6, 2026, at the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education’s annual conference in Chattanooga, TN.