This yearbook contains 24 reports concerning the following seven challenges currently facing vocational education: new needs for job training, reexamining value bases, a growing network of vocational educators, reflecting on past effectiveness, the continuing challenge to meet individual and special needs, strengthening curricula and instruction, and new issues and directions for the 1980s. Covered first are changing lifestyles, economy, and inflation in the 1980s and vocational education in an era of supply-side economic policy. In a discussion of reexamining value bases, the following issues are addressed: debates over terminology, redefining the work ethic for the 1980s, early values underlying vocational education, and cultural foundations of black leadership. Commentary is provided on the changing fortunes of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), apprenticeship training and vocational education as partners, and trends in business and industry training. Analyzed next are vocational solutions to youth problems, criticisms of job training, the contribution of vocational education, increasing opportunities for entrepreneurs, and women in vocational education. Competency-based instruction, employability skills training, and secondary school vocational education are examined. Described next are possible roles of vocational education in economic development and reindustrialization as well as multi-agency system linkages and coordination. (MN)