SHAZAM! The Isis Project

From IMDB

During the conversation with Matt McCann from Year Up, we inevitably ended up talking about evaluation and results. I was thrilled to hear that Year Up’s first formal program evaluation by Economic Mobility Corporation found that Year Up participants earned on average $3,500 more than their counterparts (approximately 30% more) within the first year following graduation. WOW! A New York Times article quoted EMC President Mark Elliot as saying, “These are the most exciting evaluation results we’ve seen in youth employment in 20 or 30 years — and the first to show a really substantial earnings gain.”

Matt also mentioned that Year Up is participating in the ISIS Project. Somehow I had missed the ISIS Project, so I’ve been reading up on it as quickly as I can. Shazam! This study rocks! (For all of you 40s and under – many gray-haired women can’t say the name Isis without linking our wrists together and yelling SHAZAM! The television show was a little itsy bitsy step in the 1970s’ cultural shift of the women’s movement.)
ISIS (Innovative Strategies for Increasing Self-Sufficiency) is a 10-year project sponsored by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), in partnership with Open Society Foundations, Joyce Foundation and Kresge Foundation. It’s a national evaluation of nine promising programs to increase self-sufficiency of economically disadvantaged youth and adults.

It’s focused on career pathways programs, defined as providing “post-secondary education and training that is organized as a series of manageable steps leading to successively higher credentials and employment opportunities in growing occupations. Each step is designed to prepare individuals for the next level of employment and education and provide a credential with labor market value. To effectively engage, retain, and facilitate learning of a diverse population, programs integrate promising instructional strategies, supports, and employer connections. The model assumes interventions must be comprehensive and intensive to address effectively the learning and life challenges facing adult students.”

The nine participants are:

• College Prep Academy - Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement (VIDA) – South Texas

• I-BEST – 2 locations at Bellingham Technical College and Whatcom Community College (WA)

• HealthCareers for All – Workforce Development Council of Seattle (WA)

• Pathways to Healthcare Program – Pima Community College (AZ)

• Bridge to Employment Program – San Diego Workforce Program (CA)

• Prepared Learner Program – Des Moines Area Community College (IA)

• Patient Care Pathway – Madison Area Technical College (WI)

• Carreres en Salud – Instituto del Progreso Latino (IL)

• Year Up – locations in Boston, Providence, NYC, DC area, Atlanta, Chicago, Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay

Isis is a top-of-the-line random assignment study. Random assignment began in November 2011 and will conclude in September 2014. The evaluation team is led by Abt Associates with a team that includes staff from The Urban Institute, MEF Associates, APHSA, NCSL, NGA, Berkeley Policy Associates, BCT partners, and independent consultants.

Fingers crossed that this produces the type of results that shake up our federal and state policymakers to realize that some things do make a difference. And to remind them that they can use their power and influence to make a difference for our young generations struggling to get connected by 25.

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