This booklet contains descriptions of the 13 finalists in the U.S. Secretary of Education's Program of Awards for Outstanding Adult Education Programs. The programs, which include adult basic education (ABE), English as a second language (ESL), and adult secondary education (including general educational development--GED) programs are grouped into three categories: local education agency, private agency, and postsecondary institution programs. Included among the finalists are ABE, GED, and ESL programs in Baltimore County, Maryland; Cerritos, California; Chula Vista, California; Columbia, South Carolina; Louisville, Kentucky; Newport, Rhode Island; and Washington, D.C. Three private agency programs (the Dover Adult Reading Center, the Lafayette Adult Reading Academy, and Tri-County Opportunities Industrialization Center, Inc.) and three postsecondary programs (Boise State University Adult Learning Center, William Rainey Harper College Adult Educational Development Department, and Seattle Central Community College Adult Education Program) are also included. Each program description includes the following information: program director; funding amounts and sources; number of students served in fiscal year 1988; a description of the program's objectives and activities; special program features; and a breakdown of program enrollment by educational functioning level, sex, and ethnicity. (The review criteria for the secretary's award are appended.) (MN)