A literature review was conducted to derive a set of policy implications for improving the effectiveness of vocational education. Variables in the areas of employment, education and training, and ancillary effects (aspirations, attitudes and values, feelings of success, and citizenship) were used to organize data collected from 232 studies conducted from 1968 through 1979 on the effects of vocational education. The literature review revealed that most secondary and postsecondary vocational graduates found jobs in training-related fields, most were satisfied with their jobs, and most employers were satisfied with them. No consistent differences in the unemployment rate or earnings of vocational and nonvocational graduates were found. Further, nonvocational graduates exhibited greater academic abilities. Insufficient data were reported on occupational skill attainment, and fewer vocational education students planned to attend college. Thus, considerable uncertainty exists over the effects of vocational education. Policy implications for increasing the effectiveness of vocational education include the following: standardization of research methodology and reporting of results, more precise description of educational programs, establishment of the validity of survey instruments, and development of a way to account for the lack of equivalency in the types of jobs held by vocational and nonvocational graduates. (MN)