This document is an evaluation of a New Careers elementary teacher aide program offered by the Family Life Department of Seattle Community College and funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity. Based on classroom observations, interviews with instructors and students, and the guidelines laid down by Pearl and Riessman in New Careers for the Poor, the evaluation examines the effectiveness of teaching methods and curriculum in achieving the goals of the New Careers project and offers recommendations for improvement. The underlying emphasis of the recommendations is on the need for a reality-oriented approach--one which operates according to limited and achievable goals rather than impossible dreams; which recognizes the job of teacher aide as a worthy end in itself rather than as a step to further advancement; which gives top priority to practical job-related instruction rather than remedial and/or general education courses; which incorporates the standards and structure of the "outside world" rather than making "special provisions"; which recognizes the particular nature and needs of the type of student involved in the program and recruits and remunerates accordingly; and one which encourages openness and confrontation rather than evasion (particularly in matters involving "the middle-class guilt complex" of the instructors and the "resistance-to-change complex" of the students). (JS)