This document contains an impact assessment system for vocational education research and development personnel to determine whether resources spent for funded projects improved the programs. It is divided into four sections. Section 1 presents an introduction to the concept of impact, dissemination, and the impact assessment design. In section 2 are presented three designs for assessing impact: one for assessing the short term impact of research and development projects, the second for assessing the long-term impact of research and development projects, and the third for assessing program impact. For each design, these areas are described: purpose, scope, key questions, information sources and methods of collecting, procedure, audience of results, format of result reporting, and management plan. Section 3 describes roles and responsibilities of the Illinois Research and Development Section staff and the independent impact assessor(s). It also describes alternatives for who might assume the role of the independent impact assessor. Section 4 provides possible uses of short term and long term impact assessment data and is organized by the questions identified in the impact assessment design. Appendixes include alternative approaches to the establishment of research and development programs and a sample program specific impact survey. (YLB)