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More than 25 years ago, the founder of Pace Learning Systems, Inc. (PLS), designed the first fully integrated instructional system for efficient, individualized learning. Today, at-risk young people are finding new hope in school, and adults who have lost hope of meaningful employment are seeing their hope reborn-thanks to Pace Learning Systems. Pace Learning Systems, Inc., was founded in 1977 by Dr. John M. McKee, a psychologist who spent many years studying the causes of school failure, crime, delinquency, and mental health disorders. Dr. McKee created the company to disseminate the individualized instructional systems he developed to give older youth and under-educated adults the tools to succeed in life. Pace Learning Systems incorporate learning concepts and performance technology that ensure user-friendly assessment procedures, efficient instructional methods, and effective motivation strategies. Produced at the company's headquarters in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Pace Learning Systems are in place in public and private schools, adult education programs, business and industry training centers, and correctional facilities throughout the nation. Learner success is the hallmark of Pace Learning Systems. Through the reinforcing effects of success, students develop skills at a rapid rate and retain more of what they learn. Pace Learning Systems employ an individualized approach to learning - one that emphasizes self-paced learning, "shaping" of skills, and constant feedback to mark student progress. This approach encourages students to be responsible for and manage their own learning. Active student involvement promotes student success. Accommodating students at varying skill levels, Pace Learning Systems deliver instruction in an efficient manner while providing for the gathering of student data. An instructor can track students' progress through the instructional materials. A program administrator can readily track students from program to program and from instructor to instructor. Pace Learning Systems employ a systems approach to teaching, a sequential process whereby students progress independently at their own rate through instruction, guided by their particular educational needs. The learning systems provide for the monitoring and recording of student progress through instruction, thus giving information to both student and instructor. The instructor becomes a learning manager and mentor to students. The systems approach consists of diagnosis, prescription, instructional management, and evaluation, with motivation built into each step of the process. Integrated and comprehensive, each learning system includes all the necessary instructional and management materials from assessment tools to documentation of student achievement to mastery tests. Such an inclusive system frees the learning manager to focus on the needs of the student rather than the requirements of a curriculum. From middle schools through GED preparation to adult education programs, Pace Learning Systems, in both print and software, provide instruction in basic math, reading, language, writing, science literacy, and advanced math. PLS also offers a workforce development system that provides instruction in how to get a job and succeed in the workplace. Other instructional programs developed at PLS include a life skills program and a literacy program for teaching non-readers how to read. Pace Learning Systems, Inc., is committed to providing "fail-safe learning" for students. Its materials and products are structured to guarantee the success of every student who uses them. The philosophy of PLS is reflected in its motto - "Nothing teaches like success."