This report reviews activities of a research project having the following objectives: (1) to design and conduct an appraisal of apprenticeship programs in Illinois, with special emphasis on the role of vocational education in the present system; and (2) to provide recommendations and alternatives for building a policy framework to guide vocational education involvement with apprenticeship programs in the future. An introductory section presents the framework for the study, its design, constraints, and limitations. The section following explains and describes how the apprenticeship system works. Issues in apprenticeship are then presented, followed by a review of literature. Methodology for data collection is presented, and difficulties encountered in the collection are described. The next section presents insights yielded by the data as it pertains to apprenticeship programs in Illinois, and the final section presents a recommendation for establishing Regional Apprenticeship Advisory Boards (RAAB). The basis for such boards and their objectives are described, and strategies for organizing and operating RAABs are presented. A twenty-four-page annotated bibliography is appended, as well as sample questionnaires used in the study, and project related data. (BL)