National performance for 17-year-olds in school, 17-year-olds not in school and young adults aged 26-35 in the area of career and occupational development (COD) was assessed to determine whether or not education status and career development skills are related. Within each of the groups, performance of various subgroups was examined, defined by sex, race, region of country, and parental education. The COD assessment measured performance in the major areas of knowledge and attitudes related to career planning, knowledge about jobs, and generally useful skills. Examination of the differences in average performance reveals that out-of-school 17-year-olds consistently perform less well than the in-school 17-year-olds. Differences in performance were greatest in the area of general knowledge about jobs and in three of the generally useful skill areas: written communication, computation and measurement, and graphic and reference materials (the fourth area being manual/perceptual skills). Corresponding differences do not separate performances of 17-year-olds attending school and adults. Average percentages of these two groups were close to identical on the four generally useful skill areas. The only area in which adults displayed a marked superiority was in knowledge about specific jobs. (TA) Primary type of information provided by report: Results (Interpretation).