Three Florida associate degree in nursing (ADN) demonstration projects of the Nursing Curriculum Project (NCP) are described, and the history of the ADN program and current controversies are reviewed. In 1976, the NCP of the Southern Regional Education Board issued basic assumptions about the role of the ADN graduate, relating them to client condition and settings for practice. It is suggested that redefining the role of the ADN graduate has not resolved the mismatch of educators' goals and the hospitals' requirements. Therefore, the NCP decided to demonstrate how curricular change could be used to improve the performance of new ADN graduates. One of the three demonstration projects in Florida was Manatee Junior College's clinical electives and preceptors program, which was designed to provide students and nursing graduates the opportunity to take electives in clincial nursing for credit. The second demonstration program was Santa Fe Community College's elective in gerontological nursing, which centered on the knowledge and clinical abilities needed to improve nursing care of the elderly. Finally, the third project at St. Petersburg Junior College involved alternative teaching strategies (adjunct instructors, peer tutors, and mini-practicum). A 24-item bibliography is appended. (SW)