An overview of the Essential Skills Program at the National Institute of Education is presented in this paper. The paper is divided into three parts. In outline form, the first part of the paper describes the history of the program since its formation in December 1973. Also included in the first part is a short discussion of a number of the major short- and long-term research efforts in human learning to be initiated by the program in 1975. The second part of the paper (appendix A) outlines the program plans of the basic skills group--the area of the institute in which the Essential Skills Program has been located since December 1974. The third part of the paper (appendix B) is an annotated bibliography of documents produced by the Essential Skills Program. (Author)