Prepared by the Research and Development Division of the American College Testing (ACT) Program, this handbook contains information pertaining to the ACT Career Planning Program, a guidance program for students considering and entering post-high school career education programs. The primary instrument of the Career Planning Program is a Career Planning Profile (CPP) which students complete prior to entering post-high school education. This instrument consists of a vocational interest profile, eight ability measures, and student information regarding career decisions and educational planning. Most of the information in this handbook concerns the CPP and includes: (1) a discussion of the construction, content, and norming of the CPP, (2) information about the reliability and intercorrelation of CPP measures and their relationship to other similar measures, and (3) evidence of the criterion-related validity of CPP scales, including the effectiveness of the CPP in predicting student performance and in differentiating educational programs. General, program cluster, and special subgroup norms plus a listing of institutions administering the CPP during the norming period are appended. (SB)