The percentage of adults with high school diplomas is higher today than 10 years ago in every Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) state, but most SREB states will not reach the goal of 90 percent of all adults with high school diplomas or equivalent by 2000. The change is the result of state and local efforts to identify and attract more adults into programs that prepare them for General Educational Development (GED) tests and support program development. A serious challenge to the goal is that many adults without diplomas lack the basic skills expected when students enter high school. The following three types of state-administered programs prepare adults for GED tests: adult basic education, adult secondary education, and English as a second language. The Workforce Investment Act consolidates more than 50 federally funded employment-training and literacy programs into these three block grants for states: adult education and family literacy, disadvantaged youth, and adult employment and training. To improve adult education and literacy, states can use technology to provide staff development and training; use educational television and the Internet to deliver programs and courses; develop community-based efforts to coordinate educational services for adults; provide incentives to attract adults to programs; encourage partnerships; and focus on building literacy skills for parents and their children. (YLB)