The Adult Competency Education (ACE) Project sought to define basic job-related skills and tasks for the development of instructional programs. The programs included a vocational counseling component to assist students in establishing skills needed to increase employability. In phase 1 the 100 entry-level jobs most frequently occurring in San Mateo County were determined. Information from 100 on-site employee interviews that defined required math and communication skills was used to develop sixty-eight job descriptions composed of twenty to forty "competencies" containing the mathematics or communication skill in a job-related task, performance criterion (instructional objective), and a job-related performance criterion (task). Phase 2 activities used this data in counseling and instruction. Counseling workshops provided opportunity for self-assessment and planning education and career goals. Prior to developing individualized instructional programs, students were assessed individually using task portions of competencies under instructor observation to determine skills to be learned. Phase 3 included project replication at four locations and preparation of a kit of job descriptions, how-to manuals describing methods used to develop them and counseling and instructional systems, and an annotated bibliography. (Appendixes include lists of jobs investigated and jobs for which descriptions were written and a sample ACE competency-based job description. Manuals and job descriptions are also available in ERIC--see Note.) (YLB)