This conference was held to review the base year activities of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) and the First Followup Study. Planning also took place for the design of the Second Followup Study and the Cohort Study of the High School Class of 1977. The participants included invited consultants and representatives of the National Center for Educational Statistics and the Research Triangle Institute. A historical overview of the base year NLS discussed the research interests of the governmental agencies and the educators who would be using the data; described the sampling procedures and data analysis; and raised further questions. The second session dealt with the priorities of the first followup data analysis. A number of topics were suggested for data analysis, including: vocational education, student knowledge of federally provided financial aid, and disparity between expected achievement and actual accomplishment of the graduates. The planning session for the Second Followup investigated appropriate questionnaire items to be included in a study of the transitional activities of the respondents two years after high school graduation. The discussion of the design of the 1977 Cohort Study focused on high school and college dropouts, sample design, and overlapping with the original 1972 sample. (GDC)