This paper presents the preliminary results of a short-term longitudinal study of the impact of literacy instruction on the lives of 76 adults enrolled in a literacy program at the Center for Literacy in Philadelphia. It begins with an extensive review of literature on literacy, adult literacy and adult literacy assessment. It describes the Initial Planning Conference, a structured interview, which was designed to collect information relevant to the adult's perceived needs and interests. The preliminary findings are presented under the following topics: (1) Who comes for literacy instruction?; (2) Why do adults seek literacy instruction? How do they expect it to affect the quality of their lives?; (3) What do they say they can already do with reading and writing?; (4) What are their strategies for coping with others' expectations that they read and write?; (5) What types and uses of print are they aware of in their environment? What do they use and for what purpose?; (6) What are their perceptions of the processes of reading and writing?; (7)How well do these adults read and write?; and (8) what strategies do they use in dealing with print? How do these adults cope with difficulties in reading and writing? Appendices include a demographic summary for those interviewed, their age and education distributions and their responses to the picture reading task. Four pages of references conclude the document. (JAZ)