THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT WERE TO PREPARE AND FIELD TEST INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS FOR USE WITH ADULTS READING BELOW THE SEVENTH GRADE LEVEL. TWO STUDIES WERE MADE IN NORTHERN FLORIDA IN 1967 OF GAINS IN READING VOCABULARY AND COMPREHENSION BY STUDENTS USING TRADITIONAL MATERIALS. THE HIGH DROPOUT RATE IN THE FIRST STUDY PRECLUDED USEFUL GENERALIZATIONS, BUT THE SECOND GAIN STUDY SHOWED SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PRETEST AND POSTTEST SCORES OF BOTH GROUPS IN BOTH SKILLS. THERE WAS SOME EVIDENCE THAT THE NEW MATERIALS WERE TEACHING BOTH SKILLS BETTER THAN THE USUAL ONES. THE STUDENTS RATED THE NEW MATERIALS AS MORE INTERESTING THAN SOME TRADITIONAL MATERIALS AND JUST AS INTERESTING AS THE BEST OF THEM. IN THE FIRST OF TWO STUDIES ON TEACHER ACCEPTANCE, THE NEWER MATERIALS WERE THE ONES BEST RECEIVED BY THE TEACHERS. MOREOVER, INTENSIVELY TRAINED ADULT BASIC EDUCATION TEACHERS AND EXPERTS IN THE FIELD COMPARED THE EXPERIMENTAL EDITION WITH EXISTING SYSTEMS, AND BOTH GAVE IT AN OVERALL RATING HIGHER THAN THAT OF THE FIVE BEST TRADITIONAL MATERIALS THEN AVAILABLE. THUS, THE NEW MATERIALS SEEM EFFECTIVE AND WELL ACCEPTED BY BOTH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS. (THE DOCUMENT INCLUDES 19 TABLES, 44 REFERENCES, APPENDIXES, AND A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.) (LY)