This document is a transcript of a United States House of Representatives hearing conducted in October, 1981, regarding reauthorization of the Vocational Education Act of 1963--specifically the National Institute of Education's study of vocational education mandated by the Education Amendments of 1976. Six principal findings were reported in the NIE study: (1) The ways by which federal funds are distributed to areas and are earmarked to benefit certain groups of individuals are crucial to realizing federal policy objectives; however, states often distribute funds in ways contrary to federal policy because of ambiguous regulations. (2) One of the key objectives of the Vocational Education Act is to assist the states to improve their capacity to provide vocational education programs and services to students who are handicapped, or disadvantaged, or whose English-speaking proficiency is limited; such legislation has spurred greater services to these students but conflicting regulations may be a disincentive for using federal funds. (3) Overcoming sex bias and stereotyping in vocational education is a new objective of federal policy introduced with the 1976 legislation; sex stereotyping has been reduced but states spend little on sex-fair activities. (4) State plans mandated by the 1976 legislation have not reached its goals and apparently have had little effect on local decisions. (5) Few efforts are made in program improvement. (6) Program evaluation efforts have been considerably augmented under the legislation, but there is room for improvement. It was concluded that the Act attempts to accomplish too much with too few resources; that there are mismatches between means and ends of federal policy; and that realizing federal policy ends depends on state and local policies, practices, and resources. (KC)