This document presents research findings for the second task in the Appalachian Educational Laboratory's Lifelong Learning Program which addresses the adult vocational development process-managing the learning process. Section I presents data collection procedures and demographic information on the target group of adults at two community colleges. Section II is an analysis of the interviews. Findings are discussed by two major categories: barriers to managing the learning process and facilitators to managing the learning process. Section III analyzes daily logs kept by sample student populations. It covers the specific activities reported by students and identifies the critical factors affecting adult learning on an individual basis by sex group and institution. Section IV presents findings of classroom observations conducted to develop descriptions of the typical learning situations encountered by adults returning to school. Section V analyzes results of a survey to identify factors related to adults withdrawing from school. Section VI is a research summary. It also covers the specific task 2 interventions that appear to be most appropriate for development and validation: professional development, orientation program, reading level analysis, career resource center, and progress monitoring system. Instruments and data tables are appended. (YLB)