Two sets of research findings are available that may provide a sound base for conducting vocational education research leading to systematic program improvement and to the attainment of excellence in education. The first is effective schooling research and the second concerns principles used by successful businesses in the United States. An examination of some of the major effective school research studies conducted in the past four years suggests a number of possibilities for similar research in the area of vocational education. For example, researchers could design effective school studies to identify the differences in educational practices that account for differences in observed outcomes. Also in need of examination are students' attitudes towards vocational and academic curricula. A third broad feature related to studies of effective schools is the emphasis on collecting and applying research findings to help districts and schools improve their effectiveness. Also supplying proposed future directions for research to improve vocational education are principles of excellence that have recently been identified in a multi-year study focusing on 62 of America's best-run companies. Included among these principles are the following: willingness to experiment and take risks, attention to customer needs, autonomy to foster innovation, productivity through people, flexible staffing with flatter hierarchies, and coexistence of central direction and maximum autonomy of work units. (MN)