The National Literacy Act of 1991 provided the funding to begin building an adult literacy staff development infrastructure by requiring all states to increase their staff development funding from 10% to 15%. Inquiry-based staff development was one of the most promising models to emerge from the staff development activities conducted in 1992-1993 as a result of the act's passage. Inquiry-based staff development evolved in response to identified needs such as the following: the need for a critical perspective, the need to problematize the knowledge base in adult literacy, the need for staff development to be practiced as an ongoing process, and the need to focus on program improvement. Among the steps involved in inquiry-based staff development are the following: reflecting on practice, gathering information, studying the information through analysis, planning actions to be taken, implementing the action plan, monitoring and evaluating results, and sharing what has been learned. The following are among the issues associated with inquiry-based staff development: time, trust, support, and expectations. (An annotated bibliography of 19 print resources about staff development and a list of 5 resource organizations are included.) (MN)