A project was conducted to develop and implement a system which would facilitate (1) communications relating to career education between and among the states and extra-state jurisdictions, federal agencies, and national organizations and (2) the strengthening of career education leadership personnel in the areas of planning, organization and coordination, funding patterns and strategies, and information dissemination. To accomplish these goals, the Committee on Career Education organized two task forces: the Communications Task Force (CTF), which was comprised of six state directors of career education, and the Staff Development Task Force (SDTF), which was comprised of seven state directors of career education. The CTF developed a newsletter (EXCHANGE) as a source of information for chiefs and state directors of career education and organized two national conferences for state directors/coordinators of career education. The SDTF developed, field-tested, and modified an information-gathering instrument designed to provide information on competencies perceived to be desirable and the extent to which these existed. This instrument was used to collect data at the first national conference, and the collected data served as a basis for planning the second conference. The high priority needs identified by the survey were needs assessments, evaluation, utilizing advisory councils, and implementation. In addition, the project produced several print products related to these priority needs. (These products, conference evaluation reports, and other conference-related materials are appended.) (BM)