A learning center project to "improve and expand the educational and employment opportunities for all residents in the Portland, Maine, Model Cities target area who are 16 years of age and older and who have not reached the grade eight education level" is described. The five-phase project proposes to: "(1) design an experimental educational facility; (2) develop new...techniques for teaching adult basic education...; (3) develop a...coordinated approach to...relating education and career orientation to employment; (4) develop...educational and employment ladders...; (5) establish and implement a...research and evaluation program." As a working model of intensive Adult Basic Education programs in other urban communities, a cyclical Design for Adult Learning was developed. The Design is planned to generate research that will be useful in the development of Adult Basic Education programs in other urban communities. The design also permits the testing of innovative programs, which can be refined or discarded, depending upon the results of the assessment. (Author/CK)