Secure state correctional facilities currently house more than 1.8 million adults, and nearly 4.4 million adults fall under state-administered community corrections. A state's approach to corrections and the communication between the state correctional components can have a large impact on the state's correctional education program. Decentralized systems can lead to inconsistencies offered to offenders and to duplication of services. State correctional programs are also shaped by their own government structure, which can be separate from the governing structure of corrections. State corrections systems also differ significantly from the standpoints of funding sources, correctional philosophy, and pertinent laws. Low literacy is pervasive in prisons, and the percentage of inmates with learning disabilities is estimated to be higher than in the general adult population. Correctional education instructors face numerous significant challenges. Improving inmates' literacy skills is a central component of correctional education. In response to changing inmate demographics, increasing numbers of correctional programs are offering family literacy programs to improve parents' and children's' literacy skills and to maintain and strengthen family relationships. The correctional education programs in Maryland, Ohio, and Texas illustrate how the structure of correctional education programs varies by state. (Contains 105 endnotes and 32 recommended resources.) (MN)