A study compared the effectiveness of Learning 100 (L-100), a multimedia, multimodal, multilevel communication skills system, with that of a more conventional reading program with functional illiterates in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a ghetto area in Brooklyn, New York. In January, 1968, under the Title III Adult Education Act of 1966, Adult Basic Education Program, an experimental group (49 students) and a control group (47 students) were established; teachers were licensed and all were receiving inservice training. Student attendance records, reasons for dropout, cycle growth and placement at completion of the program, and subjective evaluation by the teachers were collected. On the basis of the Metropolitan Achievement Test, a seven month grade equivalent difference in favor of the L-100 students was found. Teachers found the program successful in that it raised aspirational levels, was self-evaluative, maintained high interest, and was flexible; instructional materials, created especially for this population, were rated good to outstanding; however, suggestions were made for more instruction in such writing skills as personal and business letter writing. Materials used in the control group provided for individual work and progress but students found them not challenging enough. (pt)