This monograph deals with some issues of how adults learn and ways to enhance teaching, thereby increasing adults' learning gains. The issues are the gaps between theory and practice, participation and retention, and methods and strategies, and the perennial debate about literacy's multiple meanings and their implications. "Participation and Retention Concerns of Black Women Adult Learners" (Juanita Johnson-Bailey) addresses the support and sensitivity to cultural factors that help African Americans continue their education. "Methods for Developing Literacy in Urban Community Colleges" (Carol S. Chadwick) proposes ways to improve reading and writing skills through practice tips for teachers and provides a step-by-step approach with helpful hints to students from narrative and expository standpoints. "Adult Readers' Metacognitive Strategies: Theory and Practice" (Mary Lee Field) argues, with a focus on metacognitive strategies, that students become more adept and competent at skilled reading when epistemological considerations are in place. "African American English as an Instructional Resource for Teachers of African American Adults" (Talmadge C. Guy) continues theme of reading and writing in literacy education to promote racial advancement and pushes for culturally relevant education in adult literacy classrooms that include bi-dialectal instruction to reduce the sense of threat (from the language perspective) to their personal and community identity. Each paper contains references. (YLB)