A project is described that attempted to formulate a meaningful concept of adult performance levels, to devise instruments to measure performance at those levels, and to use those instruments to assess the functional competence of a representative sample of the population of the United States. Three levels of competence are defined in terms of income, education, and employability; competence is defined as a function of social demands and personal traits. Differences between performance levels are observed for communication and computation skills, problem solving, and interpersonal relations in the five areas of: (1) occupationally-related knowledge, (2) consumer economics, (3) government and law, (4) health, and (5) community resources. After an initial round of field testing, five independent nationally representative samples of 1,500 adults were tested in order to provide normative information. Results are reported for the five areas for the over-all measure of competence and also for the skill areas of reading, writing, computation, and problem solving. (Objectives for functional competence in each of the five areas are appended, as well as annual reports for the Adult Education Development Center for Texas and the Texas Adult Performance Level Competency-Based High School Diploma Pilot Program). (CTM)