The Alternate Secondary Center (ASC) Program, is the latest step in a series of activities which have been taken to individualize prescriptive learning programs to meet the identified needs of alienated secondary school youngsters. As the external component to the chain of alternate secondary programs, Hartford's two ASC's focused on two operational concepts. (1) Each Center was staffed by one unit leader, five teachers, a secretary, and a paraprofessional. These instructional services were further supplemented by a half-time assignment of a social worker and a guidance counselor. With this staffing pattern, each ASC was set up to provide individualized instructional services to approximately 50 alienated youngsters enrolled in grades seven through 12. The instructional focus was on basic skill mastery and particularly language arts remediation, the development of a functional self-concept which would enable each youngster to succeed in a mainstream environment, and both vocational and career exploration. (2) Because regular school offerings had proven to be ineffective with the alienated youngster who produced symptoms of emotional and behavioral problems within his classroom, each ASC was held responsible for the identification, construction, piloting, and validation of individualized learning materials which would work. Return of youngsters to mainstream classes was resisted. (Author/JM)