A study was conducted to determine: (1) if instruction correlated to the Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) resulted in improved basic skills for participants in the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Program; and (2) to determine the impact of selected factors on grade-level advancement (pre- versus posttest TABE scores). A literature review related to adult literacy and the work force was conducted. The research sample consisted of 108 women who received Aid to Families with Dependent Children. The study used an ex post facto design. Independent variables were as follows: target group membership, referral status, education, age, instructional time, and TABE pretest scores. Grade-level advancement in reading, math, and language were dependent variables. The effects of the independent variables on the dependent variable grade-level advancement in each of the three subject areas were determined. Significant associations between three independent variables and grade-level advancement were determined: target group membership and language, referral status and language, and instructional time and math. The multiple regression analyses identified two independent variables with significant relationships to grade-level advancement: instructional time and target group membership. Target group membership had three levels: long-term AFDC recipients, custodial parents with less than 12th-grade education, and participants not part of a JOBS target group. Participants in the first group achieved greater gains in posttest scores. TABE appeared not to be an appropriate measure because of the middle-class orientation of many test items. (Appendixes include a table showing federal AFDC welfare-to-work provisions before and under JOBS, and list of instruments that measure affective attributes. Contains 35 references.) (YLB)