First-year progress (1978-1979) is reported for a three-year project undertaken by Durham College (an historically black, independent, junior college) to implement Bloom's Mastery Learning Strategy in an effort to improve the self-esteem and motivation of educationally disadvantaged minority students. The report first presents a rationale for the project based on the increased enrollment of students with basic skill deficiencies, and then identifies the outcomes expected during the first year of the project: (1) the development of mastery materials for eight instructional areas, (2) the classroom application of these materials during at least one academic term, (3) the maintenance of records on the performance of students undergoing mastery strategy instruction, and (4) the participation of involved faculty in a two-week professional seminar at the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC). Activities carried out to produce these outcomes are then discussed. The results of an evaluation of these activities are detailed, based on a comparison of the final grades earned by students in mastery learning and conventional classes. The report concludes with an outline of activities planned for the second year and an examination of Durham's efforts to disseminate program information to other colleges. An evaluative report by Emmett Jones of CCC is appended. (JP)