This guide was prepared by a researcher-consultant to help school administrators and teachers improve, redirect, and expand instructional programs preparing high school youth to enter and progress in distributive employment. It presents distributive education in its educational, social, and economic environment and is concerned with a broadly conceived program. Chapters cover: (1) environment for distributive education, its educational, social and economic responsibilities, (2) distributive education as a program, as it is affected by the 1968 Vocational Education Amendments, (3) areas of instruction in preparatory curriculums, and how they relate to each other and to the field of distribution, (4) methods to assure application to employment requirements in preparatory plans, (5) implications of levels of training opportunities, and (6) organizing and administering preparatory instruction in the high school. A bibliography and a glossary are appended. (GR)