The guidelines in this paper were developed to assist Massachusetts Private Industry Councils, social agencies, unions, businesses, and education providers in designing educational programs appropriate to the workplace. The focus is on literacy education. The paper is organized in four sections. The first section briefly examines the background of adult literacy needs and problems. The second section, which makes up the bulk of the paper, provides suggestions for program development. Areas covered include publicity, building peer and supervisor support, class locations, educational approaches, student/teacher ratios, competency-based instruction, assessment tools, and curriculum development. The third section discusses performance goals and how they are affected by the level of learner, intensity of learning experience, availability of learning supports, and motivation of learner. Finally, the fourth section suggests contacting the Office of Training and Employment Policy (OTEP), Office of Economic Affairs, for information on curriculum development, competency-based education, and computer-assisted instruction. (KC)