A study identified strategies used in selected rural states for evaluating the effectiveness of vocational programs and services for handicapped and disadvantaged students. During the study, the researcher examined the documents used by 13 rural states to assess their vocational programs for handicapped and disadvantaged individuals. This examination consisted of a content analysis of the actual evaluation instruments and telephone interviews with individuals involved in program evaluation in each state. Based on this analysis, it appeared that the evaluation of vocational education programs for handicapped and disadvantaged students is an organized activity in most rural states, with 10 the 14 states in the study sample having evaluation programs. Nine of these states evaluated vocational programs for special needs students separately from other vocational programs. The predominate evaluation strategy used to assess these vocational programs was to have one or more external evaluators visit each program to interview students and teachers, view program facilities, and observe the program in operation. Recommendations emerging from the study included calls to specify state education agency (SEA) purposes for evaluating vocational programs and to have state program evaluation systems include a mechanism for assessing the impact of program evaluation of the SEA on local education agencies and on specific programs and services. (MN)