The JOBSTART demonstration program addresses the employability problems of school dropouts by testing a program of basic education, occupational skills training, support services, and job placement assistance for young, economically disadvantaged dropouts who read below the eighth-grade level. The program is being offered at 13 diverse sites, primarily under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). In the first year, the 2,312 applicants were randomly assigned either to an experimental group offered a chance to participate in JOBSTART or to a control group not offered JOBSTART but any other community services. A 12-month follow-up survey yielded 1,401 responses (82 percent). Highlights of the evaluation include the following: (1) JOBSTART participants were more disadvantaged than youths served by JTPA; (2) median participation was 6 months compared to 3.4 months for JTPA Title IIA participants; (3) participants receiving basic education followed by job training had better educational attainment than those in concurrent education/training programs; (4) JOBSTART participants were substantially more likely to receive high school diplomas or equivalency--however, they earned less than the control group in the short term; (5) job placement was the least successful component; and (6) some constraints were imposed by JTPA performance standards and contracting practices. Lessons were derived for each program component as well as for three program design issues: choice of institutional sponsor, concurrent versus sequential education and training, and brokered versus in-house sequential program. (Appendices describe evaluation data sources and methodological issues. Fifty-five references are included.) (KC)