2014-2021
The Career Pathways Intermediate Outcomes (CPIO) Study rigorously evaluated the intermediate impact of career pathways programs first studied in the federally-sponsored Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Impact Study and Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) Project. CPIO used administrative data and survey responses to examine intermediate impacts on educational progress, labor market outcomes, and family well-being approximately three years after participants were randomly assigned into either a treatment group that could access the career pathways program or to a control group that could not. Long-term program impacts were assessed at approximately six years after enrollment into the study through the Career Pathways Long-term Outcomes (CPLO) Study.
Key evaluation questions addressed in these studies include:
- What are the intermediate effects of the PACE and HPOG programs on their populations of interest?
- How do effects of career pathways programs vary over time, across outcomes or domains, by occupational sector, by program model, and by participant characteristics?
- How can career pathways models be adjusted to promote longer-term outcomes for participants?
The project released analysis plans for the PACE and HPOG Impact follow-up studies, which supplement earlier published analysis plans and provide more information about how the intermediate impact analyses were conducted. Reports for each of the nine PACE programs and the HPOG Impact Study were released in 2020 and 2021. The project also published a three-year cross-site report summarizing the findings from all ten programs. The study also conducted cost benefit analyses for selected PACE programs.
This work was conducted by Abt Associates and its partners MEF Associates and The Urban Institute.
Points of contact: Nicole Constance and Amelia Popham.
This study has registered the following impact evaluations on the Open Science Framework:
- Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG)
- PACE Programs
- Des Moines Area Community College
- Instituto del Progreso Latino
- Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST)
- Madison Area Technical College
- Pima Community College
- San Diego Workforce Partnership
- Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement (VIDA)
- Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County
- Year Up
Information collections related to this project were reviewed and approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under OMB #0970-0394 (HPOG 1.0) and #0970-0397 (PACE). Related materials are available at the HPOG 1.0 and PACE Information collection pages on RegInfo.gov.
The most currently approved documents are accessible by clicking on the ICR Ref. No. with the most recent conclusion date. To access the information collections (E.g. interviews, surveys, protocols), click on View Information Collection (IC) List. Click on View Supporting Statement and Other Documents to access other supplementary documents.
Data from PACE and many of the HPOG 1.0 and HPOG 2.0 evaluations are archived through the Child and Family Data Archive. See OPRE’s Archived Data page for more information.