This paper deals with the evaluation of an out-of-school tutorial program, CROSSROADS, which was funded under the U.S. Department of Education's Basic Skills Improvement Program. Like many projects funded under the Basic Skills program, CROSSROADS was terminated after two years even though it had been funded with the expectation of four years for program development and demonstration. Subjects of the evaluation were 166 tutees from four junior high schools in Long Beach, California. Progress rates of the tutees were measured by pre- and posttests, standardized tests, school grades and criterion referenced measures. Evaluation results suggested that tutees learned some basic skills but not enough to impact upon standardized test scores or grades. Results also suggested that out-of-school basic skills programs will have a difficult time in producing substantial gains in basic skills in lower achieving children due to problems with tutee motivation and logistics of running out-of-school programs. Although the evaluation did not substantiate strongly the effectiveness of the CROSSROADS model for basic skill improvement, findings and issues are pertinent to efforts to improve basic skills and to educational policies and evaluation practice. (Author/JAZ)