To assist Congress in preparing for the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act, the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) examined the technical feasibility and utility of instituting specific requirements for performance measurement of secondary school vocational programs. The OTA examined two types of performance measures--labor market indicators and occupational competency testing--but did not evaluate the overall strengths and weaknesses of a federal decision to mandate these or other measures. Labor market indicators were found to be an important but insufficient measure of overall school or program performance. Occupational competency tests were found to provide important but insufficient indications of program effectiveness and were not recommended as the sole basis for performance standards. As a result of the study, it is suggested that an important role for the Federal Government to play would be to encourage a broad view of performance measurement and that, in particular, Congress could play a leadership role by helping states to (1) develop clear definitions of the objectives of their vocational programs; (2) establish agreed-upon norms of measurement and guidelines for data collection and analysis; (3) carry out research aimed at the development of improved technologies for testing; (4) conduct pilot demonstrations of the effects of alternative performance standards on school and student behavior; and (5) raise necessary funds for dissemination of innovations in performance assessment methodologies. (CML)