By investigating the opinions of 35 adult educators and 38 employment service specialists, this study sought to determine how effectively certain adult education programs in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin are meeting the educational and job preparation needs of individuals and communities, and to assess the relevance of adult education objectives to participants' needs and interests. Individual structured interviews were used in which interviewees categorized each of 20 educational activities as either imperative, very desirable, desirable, permissible, or undesirable. These were among the findings: (1) no single activity was considered imperative by a majority of educators or specialists; (2) while educators generally approved of all the activities, priority was given to assuring adequate opportunity for continuing education to all adults in the community; (3) the educators were reluctant to be daring or innovative in planning effective job preparation programs; (4) the adult educators did not seek the help of employment service specialists in program planning; (5) guidance and counseling services offered by adult educators to participants in education and training programs were inadequate. (author/ly)