Fourteen planning papers commissioned by the National Institute of Education in preparation for a study of vocational education are presented. The papers are organized into four sections. Section one deals with selected features of federal grant-in-aid programs and contains these papers: "On Implementing the Vocational Amendments of 1976", "Distribution and Allocation of Funding for Vocational Education", "Federal and State Governance of Vocational Education", and "Research Issues for Vocational Education: Compliance and Enforcement of Federal Laws". Two papers on quantitative data sources are presented in section two: "The Vocational Education Data Base" and "Effects of Vocational Education Programs: Research Findings and Issues." The third section deals with issues in program evaluation. The papers are "The Phoenix of Vocational Education: Implications for Evaluation", "The Effects of National Policy on Vocational Education Evaluation", and "Vocational Education: Education or Short-Run Training Program?". The last section treats selected aspects of vocational education policy. Papers are "The Role of Vocational Education in the Nation's Employment and Training Programs", "Vocational Education in Rural America: Current Problems and Prospects", "Race and Sex Compliance Issues in Vocational Education", "Vocational Education for Special-Needs Students" and "Vocational Education as a Strategy for Eliminating Poverty." (JH)