THE FIRST OF FOUR STEPS IN A STUDY TO DETERMINE THE LEARNING EXPERIENCES THAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN A DISTRIBUTIVE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM WAS TO CONSTRUCT A PHILOSOPHY OF DISTRIBUTIVE EDUCATION CONSISTENT WITH THE PHILOSOPHY OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, THE GOALS OF SECONDARY EDUCATION, AND THE IDEALS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. STATEMENTS OF BASIC BELIEFS REFLECTING THE DEFINITIONS, PRINCIPLES, AND OBJECTIVES OF THE DISTRIBUTIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM, DERIVED FROM LITERATURE, RESEARCH, SPEECHES, AND CONSULTATION WITH SELECTED LEADERS, WERE EVALUATED, TESTED FOR CONSISTENCY AGAINST A PURPOSES OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION CARD SORT, REVISED, AND MADE INTO A 96-ITEM BASIC BELIEF CARD SORT. OF THE 172 DISTRIBUTIVE EDUCATION STATE SUPERVISORY AND TEACHER EDUCATION PERSONNEL, 153 RESPONDED TO THE STATEMENTS OF BASIC BELIEFS. THE MAJOR FINDINGS WERE--(1) THERE WERE FEW STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES OF OPINION AMONG THE RESPONDING GROUPS, AND (2) THE RESPONDENTS HAD A VERY HIGH DEGREE OF AGREEMENT ON 83 OF THE 96 STATEMENTS. THE AGREEMENT OF THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE LEADERSHIP IN DISTRIBUTIVE EDUCATION UPON THE STATEMENTS OF BELIEF INDICATED THAT THE PHILOSOPHY OF DISTRIBUTIVE EDUCATION EXPRESSED IN THE FINDINGS CAN SERVE AS A THEORETICAL STRUCTURE ON WHICH FUTURE RESEARCH CAN BE BASED. A BIBLIOGRAPHY, STATISTICAL DATA, THE PROFILE INQUIRY FORM, AND LISTS OF THE AGREED-UPON BELIEFS ARE INCLUDED. (SL)