This report of the NAVE (National Assessment of Vocational Education) Independent Advisory Panel fulfills an important obligation under the 1998 Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act (Perkins III). Perkins III directed the Secretary of Education to complete an "independent evaluation and assessment of vocational and technical education programs under this Act" (Section 114(c)(3)). The law also directed the Secretary to appoint an Independent Advisory Panel to provide advice on conducting this National Assessment of Vocational Education (NAVE). Such a panel was selected in mid-1999 and included employers, secondary school and district administrators, representatives of postsecondary institutions, state directors of vocational education at both the secondary and postsecondary levels, union representatives, education and workforce development policy experts, and researchers with experience in relevant fields. The panel met on seven occasions to: (1) identify the key policy and research questions NAVE was to address; (2) review the analytic framework and study designs; and (3) receive and help interpret results from NAVE analyses, including those described in the NAVE final report already transmitted to Congress. Perkins III required the panel to submit to Congress and the Secretary of Education its own independent analysis of NAVE findings and recommendations. This report contains that independent analysis.