Project Literacy, Education, and Resource Network (LEARN), initiated in 1987 by the Arizona Supreme Court, Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), celebrates 20 years of innovative programming in correctional education. LEARN started as a computer-based literacy program for at-risk youth and adults, but was quickly expanded into a network of educational programs statewide. Two decades after its inception, LEARN has evolved into a nationally recognized correctional education model. Initially called Principle of the Alphabet Literacy System (PALS), Project LEARN started in a high school reading lab in Tucson, Arizona in 1987. The program then expanded to three other pilot sites in Arizona and currently is in place in 31 community, probation, school, and detention Center sites throughout the state.
“One of my proudest accomplishments during my term as Chief Justice, was the development and implementation of the literacy and LEARN programs... as has been clinically proven, the success of this program significantly reduces criminal recidivism. If this is all that I did, it is of inestimable value to the judges and citizens of this state. As you and I know, the program also lifts unfortunate people to greater levels of life-skills and thus improves their self-esteem.” Frank X. Gordon, Jr.