The Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) evaluation, formerly referred to as The Innovative Strategies for Increasing Self-Sufficiency (ISIS) evaluation, is a 10-year random assignment evaluation of promising career pathways interventions aimed at increasing employment and self-sufficiency among low-income, low-skilled adults and youth. It is funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and led by Abt Global. 

This brief summarizes the framework used to describe the career pathways approach and the theory of change that guides the evaluation. It then describes the nine programs in the evaluation, and concludes with the study’s research questions and data sources.