The Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984 mandates that the U.S. Department of Education conduct a National Assessment of Vocational Education. The National Assessment, designed following staff research and the input of experts who met in Washington, D.C. in September 1986, will focus on five broad areas: implementation of the Perkins Act, vocational education for special populations, conditions of secondary vocational education, conditions of postsecondary vocational education, and the changing economy and its skill requirements. A number of research studies will be conducted in each of these areas in order to assess the effectiveness of the vocational education programs mandated by the Perkins Act. The National Assessment will produce a final report in January 1989, with two interim reports scheduled for January 1988 and July 1988. (KC)