A Dallas County consortium study investigated use of the Control Data Basic Skills Learning System (computer-based education) as a means for providing a comprehensive, high quality program of individualized instruction in reading, mathematics, and language arts. It also examined issues related to the motivation of students whose training was subsidized by Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) funding and that of learners who sought training voluntarily. Participant and comparison groups were established at two sites. Comparison groups followed a course of instruction offered as part of the regular adult basic education program. Evaluation sought to compare effects of computer-based instruction in the basic skills with ongoing adult programs of literacy and cognitive skills improvement in the first year. The computer-based instructional program seemed to have no significant effect on the acquisition of basic skills for either CETA or non-CETA participants. Issues related to similar failures in CETA-funded projects were suggested, and specific recommendations were made about the conditions of learning which must be present and types of incentives necessary for the successful implementation of job skills training. (YLB)