Work-based education (WBE), including traditional vocational education and other career-focused programs, was an important curricular component in American schools for most of the 20th century. The 1990s was a period of substantial change for work-based education (WBE). Spurred on by a concern about the international competitiveness of the American economy, numerous reform efforts were launched during the decade, many with federal support. The federal initiatives included the Perkins Amendments of 1990, the Goals 2000: Educate America Act of 1994, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994, and the Perkins Amendments of 1998. In addition, many states and localities developed their own innovative WBE programs. There is a need to examine the legacy of the WBE reforms of the 1990s in an educational landscape now largely shaped by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and other initiatives. Educators, parents, and policymakers remain concerned that students not only excel academically but also find satisfying pathways to productive adulthood. Within this context, a national invitational conference, "Vocational Education and School-to-Work: The Emerging Synthesis," was held in Philadelphia, PA, on February 10-11, 2003. To frame discussion, the conference organizers commissioned papers from WBE researchers on a variety of topics that are important for understanding current WBE policy and practice. This issue of "The LSS Review" provides a synopsis of those recommendations and summaries of the commissioned papers. They are: Vocational Education and School-to-Work: The Emerging Synthesis (William J. Stull, James R. Stone III and JoAnn B. Manning); Overview of Work-Based Career and Technical Education in the American High School (Kenneth Gray); Developing the Next Generation of Leadership in Work-Based Education (N. L. McCaslin);) Work-Based Education and Reform (Theodore Lewis);Curriculum and Learning in Work-Based Education: Implications for Education in the New Economy (Hughnby, Nancy L. Hutchinson, Peter Chin, Joan Versnel and Michael Zanibbi); Assessing the Premise and the Promise of School-to-Work (David Neumark); Career and Technical Education, Career Pathways, and Work-Based Learning: Changes in Participation 1997-1999 (James R. Stone III and Oscar A. Aliaga); The Continuing Contribution of Work-Based Learning (Thomas R. Bailey, Katherine L. Hughes and David Thornton Moore); Preparing for Productive Careers: Students' Participation in and Use of Career-Focused Learning Activities (Joshua Haimson and John Deke); Selected Measures of Student Progress in Schools With CTE-Centered Whole-School Reform (Marisa Castellano, Sam Stringfield, James R. Stone III and Jeffrey C. Wayman); Effective Dissemination Strategies for Work-Based Education: Increasing the Connection Between Research and Practice (Karen Seashore Louis and Lisa M. Jones); Understanding Tech Prep as Reform: Major Results and Policy Implications of the "Community College and Beyond" Longitudinal Study (Debra D. Bragg); and Policy Perspectives for Work-Based Education in U.S. High Schools (Betsy Brand). ["The LSS Review" is a product of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory, the Laboratory for Student Success (LSS), one of ten regional educational laboratories funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education.]