Using 60 tables and 60 figures, this report depicts vocational education in the United States as it has evolved over two decades, 1969 to 1990. The report examines patterns of program participation, selected student outcomes, and the characteristics of teachers in both secondary and postsecondary vocational education. It also provides some information on the academic curriculum. Most of the information is presented for single points in time, but some time series data are also reported. Data for the report were taken from many of the large national data systems supported by the National Center for Education Statistics. A few highlights of the report are the following: (1) in the high school senior class of 1987, 98 percent of all public high school graduates completed at least one course in vocational education during the high school years, with 90 percent of those students taking courses preparing them for specific occupations; (2) students with disabilities were more likely than students without disabilities to be heavy concentrators in vocational education; (3) about 62 percent of students in 1982 attended at least one postsecondary institution in 1984; (3) the number of high school seniors taking vocational courses in 1980 was 11 percent higher than the number taking such courses in 1972; (4) vocational and nonvocational teachers tended to have similar characteristics; and (5) about 6 percent of the United States' population of 18- to 34-year-olds was enrolled in postsecondary vocational courses in 1990. The report contains a glossary and appendixes with 60 tables of standard errors for the tables and data sources and technical notes. (KC)