The Minnesota Research and Development Center for Vocational Education (MRDC) has a major program of research focused on the education of special needs learners. The research study described in this report was a response to the lack of understanding and knowledge about special needs programs and evaluation activities related to these programs. The goals of this project were to (1) develop a conceptual framework that would provide direction to activities related to improving the quality of special needs programs and (2) specifically address some of the evaluation concerns related to these programs. The report is divided into four main parts. The first part presents and describes a conceptual framework for thinking about serving special needs students in vocational education programs. The second part describes how the notion of evaluation relates to this framework and outlines general considerations for the evaluation of special needs programs. Part 3 describes the development, conduct, and results of a survey designed to identify and describe some of the typical support services for special needs students that are available in secondary vocational programs in Minnesota. The final section presents conclusions and recommendations for future research efforts related to the evaluation of services provided to special needs students. (Author)