This 2004 report presents a synthesis of evidence on the implementation and outcomes of vocational education and of the 1998 Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act (Perkins III). It examines questions about the effectiveness of vocational education in improving student outcomes, the consequences of new funding and accountability provisions for programs and participants, the implementation and quality of vocational education, and the extent of its alignment with other reform efforts. The report also provides options for the future direction of vocational education legislation. (Contains 115 tables & 37 figures.).

Descriptions and evaluations of the vocational education services delivered to special populations, the effects of the Carl D. Perkins Act of 1984 in modernizing the vocational education system, the impact of vocational education on academic skills and employment opportunities, and other topics as mandated by Congress in the Act (section 403[a]).

Papers cover the effects of the 1990 Perkins Act on vocational training policy and practice, funding issues, issues regarding special groups, and the relationship between academic and vocational education.