This study focused on the identification and description of environmental characteristics and their relationship to basic skills exposure. The objectives of the study were to identify the major factors that characterize environments in which learning is intended to occur, and to delineate patterns of co-exposure to basic skills and environmental factors in secondary classrooms and work-site settings. Four programs were studied, including two different models of experience-based career education, one of cooperative distributive education, and a traditional academic program that included part-time work. All programs had a work site as well as a classroom component. Observations were recorded live in the form of comprehensive field notes; overall, 193 observations of 45 students were obtained. Six basic skills were identified: psychomotor, reading, computing, speaking, reasoning, and writing, while 12 environmental factors were defined, including simultaneous tasks, self-initiation, working cooperatively and other work site features. The findings of the study included the following: (1) the programs and settings exhibited different patterns of environmental factors; (2) the relationship between exposure to basic skills and programs and settings was not the same for all programs and settings, i.e., classrooms were significantly higher on exposure to reading and writing skills, while psychomotor and reasoning skills were more frequently used in the work site; (3) the environmental factors, when combined into the six factors of importance, support, control, complexity, feedback, and relational, affected the use of different basic skills. The study concluded that career and vocational education programs can provide students with as much exposure to basic skills as they would have in a traditional classroom. Further research is needed to clarify these issues and to establish causal relationships. (KC)