The National Household Education Survey (NHES) was conducted for the first time in 1991 as a way to collect data on the early childhood education experiences of young children and participation in adult education. Because the NHES methodology is relatively new, field tests were necessary. A large field test of approximately 15,000 households was conducted during the fall of 1989 to examine several methodological issues. This report describes the design of the field test and the outcomes of its collection activities. Unit and item response rates and the burden associated with survey participation are described. The telephone methodology of the NHES survey offers some important advantages for the program; it is less expensive than a comparable personal interview survey, and it can also be instituted relatively quickly, address several subject matter areas at the same time, and provide results in a very timely fashion. The NHES offers the potential for examining education issues that have been difficult to address through the more traditional National Center for Education Statistics surveys that are based on institutional samples. The field test has shown that many of the concerns can be handled adequately. Fifteen tables and six figures illustrate the overview. (SLD)