The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 required states to develop outcome-based accountability systems built around statewide performance measures and standards. States were given considerable flexibility in selecting outcomes to be measured, the measurement tools, and the standards; their systems were to be in place by the fall of 1992. To assess the progress states have made in the first three years, the authors examined the programs in four states that were among the first to begin implementation.