A STUDY WAS MADE OF STUDENTS WHO DISCONTINUED ATTENDANCE IN THE ADULT BASIC EDUCATION COURSES PROVIDED BY PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE BRONX, MANHATTAN, BROOKLYN, AND QUEENS. DATA WERE GATHERED BY INTERVIEW OR SCHOOL FILES ON 306 PERSONS--167 NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING, PRIMARILY PUERTO RICANS, AND 139 NATIVE BORN, LARGELY NEGRO. MOST OF THE DROPOUTS WERE 30-39 YEARS OF AGE, WERE MARRIED, WERE AT THE LOWEST INSTRUCTIONAL LEVELS, AND HAD DISCONTINUED AFTER ATTENDING LESS THAN 50 HOURS OF CLASS. RECRUITMENT HAD BEEN DONE LARGELY BY WORD OF MOUTH. THE TWO MAJOR REASONS FOR LEAVING WERE CHANGE OF RESIDENCE AND INTERFERENCE WITH WORK ACTIVITIES. MOST STUDENTS HOPED TO RETURN TO CLASS. AMONG RECOMMENDATIONS MADE FOR THE PROGRAM WERE--PROVISION OF A POSITIVE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE FROM THE FIRST CLASS, MEETING THE NEEDS OF BEGINNING STUDENTS, FURTHER STUDY OF EFFECTIVE RECRUITMENT, SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR MOVING STUDENTS, AND IMMEDIATE FOLLOWUP OF ABSENT STUDENTS. (PT)