This document refines and develops a 1992 proposal by Great Britain's Further Education Unit (FEU) that all kinds of student achievement be documented within a common framework involving the following procedures: describing adult learners' achievements in terms of learning outcomes; grouping the learning outcomes into coherent units; defining the level and size of the units according to a common procedure; and agreeing on a credit value for the unit based on learning outcomes, level, and size. The guide is divided into four sections in which the following topics are discussed: (1) the need for a common approach in the use of learning outcomes (definition of and rationale for learning outcomes, problems in communicating and interpreting learning outcomes, FEU's proposal for a common approach, development of a common set of terms); (2) guidance on communicating and interpreting learning outcomes (use of written statements, checklist for writing learning outcomes, learning outcomes and level descriptors, use of exemplar materials, use of networking and professional contacts); (3) developing units (writing units, approving units, using approved units); and (4) learning outcomes, units, and modules (unitization and modularization, units and modules, and modular delivery systems). Appended are an explanation of terms used in specifying learning outcomes and a sample unit. (MN)