This guide to standards and measures for compliance with the Perkins Act was developed by and for 29 community colleges in Michigan in order to provide accountability for planning and program improvement. The Perkins Act requires recipients of Perkins funds to evaluate the effectiveness of programs based upon a statewide system of standards and measures. This document provides a timeline for each of the standards and measures activities for 1997-1999. Following an overview and background, listed are the major questions to be answered by the colleges and the specific criteria to measure program effectiveness. These questions address how effectively students in four populations (occupational students, special population students, single parents/displaced homemakers, and sex equity students) are achieving basic academic competencies, advanced academic competencies, occupational or work skills, and non-program competencies. Sixteen general guidelines are listed for the colleges to follow in applying the standards and measures, which are expected to continue to evolve to ensure that they achieve their intended purpose. Five required measures and seven optional measures are described in the areas of basic and advanced academic skills and occupational work skill attainment. The last section of this document contains instructions for completing the Perkins Standards and Measures spreadsheets. A glossary of definitions is also included. (JJL)