The New York City Adult Literacy Initiative was instituted in 1984. Approximately 22,000 students attended the city's literacy program in 1984, with the number increasing to nearly 50,000 by 1986. A study examined one year, 1985-1986, of the program's operation. Of the 49,986 students enrolled in 1985-1986, 40,754 were in bilingual education (BE) or English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) programs. The remaining 9,232 were enrolled in high school equivalency or other adult reading programs. Fifty-nine percent of the BE and ESOL students were female; 58.6 percent of the BE students were Black and 30.4 percent were Hispanic. Of the BE and ESOL students, 37.2 percent were employed full-time, 8.7 percent were employed part time, and 40.1 percent were unemployed. The average BE and ESOL student is 33.33 years old. Very few reported their incomes. For those who did, the average annual income was $7,773. Almost 25 percent of the BE students and just under 20 percent of the ESOL students separated from the program during the course of the fiscal year. The BE students averaged achievement gains of about 8.5 months, and the ESOL students averaged gains of 13.2 raw score points. (Appendixes contain a discussion of the creation of the data files used in the analysis and a guide to the tables of demographic data.) (MN)