Studies mandated to the National Institute of Education (NIE) by the Vocational Education Amendments of 1976 can provide an on-going assessment of vocational education's success in meeting changing needs of the states and nation. They can provide new concepts to help meet vocational education's goals in eight ways. These are (1) clarifying who has responsibility for what, (2) determining reasons for continuing decline in basic skills of students, (3) stopping vocational education's treatment as a stepchild, (4) ending vocational parochialism at high school and community college levels, (5) leaving vocational education in hands of the education community, (6) designing vocational education for the gifted, (7) revealing need for a national policy, and (8) examining all state plans. NIE studies should assess the advisory role of State Advisory Councils on Vocational Education in planning, effectiveness of interagency cooperation, and state plans and programs to help American students compete internationally. Other areas that should be included in the NIE study are state plans as planning or "compliance" documents, postsecondary vocational education, use of the 15 career clusters used for curriculum development and program planning, successful use of curriculum developed by the Office of Education, effectiveness of using existing programs for greater interagency cooperation, and feasibility of moving the United States Employment Service to the Bureau of Occupational and Adult Education. (YLB)