The U.S. Department of Education (DE) has initiated several planning efforts and projects geared toward the attainment of excellence in trade and industrial education (T&I). One such effort involved the formation of a task force composed of educators from the various vocational curriculum areas who were brought together to focus on the impacts of technological advancement on vocational and adult education. In addition, DE recently funded a project to develop national standards of excellence in T&I. In an effort to provide a communications link among the major components of T&I, DE recently set up a telephone conference network for use by a committee made up of State supervisors, teachers, persons involved with the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA), and other professional organizations with an interest in the delivery of T&I DE has continued to take an active interest in the formation of partnerships between vocational education and industry. Besides striving to maintain a close relationship with VICA, DE is currently in the process of working out an agreement with the Department of Labor concerning cooperative planning in the area of overseeing and improving the delivery of apprenticeship programs. (MN)