Since 1985, the number of adult literacy programs provided by the Toronto Board of Education has increased by 500 percent and learners by almost 300 percent, so that in 1989, almost 9,000 adults are enrolled in nearly 700 classes. Two distinct groups are being served: a unilingual group, most of whom are Canadian-born, English-speaking young adults, and an English as a second language (ESL) group who are typically literate in a language other than English. The differences between the two groups have consequences for program planning, instructional methods, locations of classes, and outreach. Classes are scheduled at most times of the day. Unilingual learners tend to take more hours of instruction per week than ESL learners. Generally, all learners are pleased with their classes, although few attend for more than a year, and the dropout rate is high. Gains for unilingual learners are associated with good attendance, amount of instructor's experience, and a classroom that promotes independent learning. ESL learners' gains are related to length of participation in programs, level of class, the amount of inservice training taken by their instructors, class size (about 10), and classrooms with high levels of participation, interest, and respect, by both learners and instructors. Lead instructors spend at least half their time on administration, although they feel their primary role is program support. Program administrators generally feel that learners are being well served, although specific areas were noted as requiring attention, such as more funds to advertise and integrating adult classes with day school programs. (KC)