Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA) (P.L. 98-211 as amended) and New Jersey State Chapter 212 were enacted to provide financial assistance to local educational agencies (LEAs) to expand and improve their educational programs to meet the special needs of educationally deprived children. Each eligible LEA must apply to the state educational agency (SEA) for state and federal funding and must describe its proposed program. These guidelines are intended to assist New Jersey LEAs in designing and implementing basic skills improvement (BSI) programs in compliance with federal and state statutes and regulations. The guidelines are in 11 sections. The first 10 sections correspond to the following parts of the Basic Skills Improvement Program Application for FY 1989: (1) cover page; (2) basic data (ECIA Chapter 1 only); (3) parent-teacher and nonpublic school consultation; (4) program needs assessment for compensatory education and for supplemental ESL and basic skills programs for LEP students; (5) process to determine students in need; (6) program description; (7) count of participants by project, by school; (8) evaluation design; (9) fiscal data; and (10) budget breakdown/description. Each section includes a discussion of program requirements, section summary statements, and instructions. Section XI comprises 12 corresponding appendixes. An application form is also included. (AF)