This handbook contains 48 articles on adult and continuing education. Part 1, which deals with adult education as a field of professional practice, includes articles on such topics as the social and historical contexts of adult and continuing education, adult education and international development, the voluntary sector and adult education, and public policy and finance. Covered in Part 2 are topics related to adult learners and the educational process, such as: adult development and learning, nontraditional education, distance education, program planning and evaluation, and facilitating adult learning. The following are among the major providers of educational programs for adults that are examined in Part 3: public schools, four-year colleges and universities, community colleges, cooperative extension, the armed forces, correctional facilities, public libraries and museums, adult education agencies in the United States and Canada, religious institutions, proprietary schools, and business and industry. Part 4 deals with various adult education program areas and special clienteles, including speakers of nonnative speakers of English, women, older adults, rural adults, racial and ethnic minorities, and developmentally disabled adults. Part 5 presents three perspectives on adult education in the future. The contents of 14 past handbooks (published between 1934 and 1981) are listed, and name and subject indexes are included. (MN)