Intending to explore the interaction effects of self-esteem level and perceived program utility on the retention and cognitive achievement of adult basic education students, a self-esteem instrument, to be administered verbally, was constructed with content relevant items developed from and tested on a working class, undereducated, black, adult population. The problems concerned with the defining and measurement of four major variables in an adult program of basic education are presented: persistence, student's self-esteem, cognitive achievement, and student's perceived utility of the program. Measurement problems are discussed in detail, and it is concluded that further work is needed to develop more precise definitions and measurement of these selected variables. (MW)