Two major areas of concern to vocational education are cost benefit and job and task analysis. In recent years vocational education has broadened its outlook in terms of general human development, but the historical context of vocational education and concerns for accountability require evaluation of vocational education programs to consider cost factors and the relationship of programs to the world of work. The computer capabilities of the Comprehensive Occupational Data Analysis Program (CODAP) system and similar systems, such as the Vocational and Technical Education Consortium of the States (VTECS) that are in the process of being developed, have rather direct implications for planning and evaluation. Task analysis may serve as a basis for curriculum planning and can lead to statements of behavioral objectives and criterion-referenced measures that assess student learning. A CODAP-type system can help occupational educators derive listings of tasks that are required of employees at different levels. This system can be useful in evaluating program outcomes and estimates of the cost and benefits of these outcomes. Two concepts that have been useful in arriving at estimates in cost effectiveness studies are the staging concept and the seriousness index. (A sample task analysis is appended.) (LRA)