This report was prepared to provide participating school personnel and other concerned educators with a short summary of the National Longitudinal Study and some of the results to date. Part I describes the planning and development of the Study including information on samples, data collection, and procedures. Part II presents a brief description of the characteristics, plans, and attitudes of the students as they were about to leave high school. A comprehensive, detailed presentation of the base-year survey findings will be published later. The appendix contains relevant portions of the Student Questionnaire and Student's School Record Information Questionnaire. (RC)