A study followed for a year or more the internal experiences of learning and change of 41 adult basic education/English as a second language learners enrolled in these 3 programs: community college, family literacy site, and workplace site. It focused on learners' meanings as the starting point for exploration and used a developmental lens to understand learners' program experiences in its approach to data collection and analysis. Protocols and measures administered before or near the start day of each program, during the middle months, and near the end of the program were focus groups; Experiences of Learning Interviews; Subject-Object Interview; Loevinger's Ego Development Sentence Completion Test; Role-Related Vignettes; Satisfaction with Life Scale; Perceived Efficacy Beliefs Scale; Locus of Control Scale; Self as Learner, Parent, or Worker Map; Reflecting on Changes in Self as Learner, Parent, or Worker Map; classroom observations; and Teacher Interview on Student Changes. Key theoretical and methodological lessons that focused on exploring developmentally oriented questions were adapting measures in accordance with learnings related to logistical, language and cultural issues; learnings related to contextual issues; and learnings related to using a range of measures to understand learners' meaning making and program experiences. Protocols and measures are appended. (Contains 45 references.)(YLB)