Recent studies indicate that Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs are reaching more students and the cost per enrolled has declined, but statistics are not available to reveal the quality of the programs. In four states, ABE has made reported, tested differences in adult reading ability. In New York and Missouri, students gained an average of about 1/2 year in reading ability on completing the first 100-hour cycle and another 4 months after completing the second cycle. The dropout rate was 50 percent. In a Florida migrant program, an average gain in reading of approximately half a grade in 2 months was reported. The Aker study in Mississippi involved a stipend program. Of the 183 individuals for whom pretest and post-test data were available, 93 percent experienced reading gain ranging from 1 to 4 grade levels, and the dropout rate was 27.6 percent. These studies indicate that ABE does help. However, they also show that stipending may be a major factor in the success of the program and that criteria for dtermining dropouts in many programs were inconsistent with ABE philosophy. It was concluded that each program should evaluate what can be evaluated and apply accountability principles to its overall program. References are included. (AW)