Adults from King's County, Prince Edward Island participated in a Basic Training for Skill Development (BTSD) program, designed to improve their reading and computational skills. A total of 101 males and 29 females ranging in age 17-60 years and 17-50 years, respectively, were enrolled. Instruction was given for 25 hours each week over a five-month period using traditional classroom lecture; there was no use of autoinstructional equipment and materials. Parallel forms of the Otis Quick-Scoring Mental Ability Test and the Stanford Achievement Test, Intermediate II Battery, were administered prior to and following completion of the program. Group gains in terms of grade level were relatively small. The program was limited by use of primary teachers without special training for dealing with disadvantaged adults. Little use was made of instructional aides to facilitate the learning process. There was no followup evaluation. Suggestions were made on the direction planning should take if the program is to be effective. (PT)