A national evaluation of school-to-work (STW) implementation was conducted by collecting data on four broad issues: states' efforts to promote the changes envisioned by the School to Work Opportunities Act (STWOA); impacts of local STW partnerships on school and workplace opportunities available to students and creation of coherent STW systems; effects of STW implementation efforts on students' in-school experiences; and STW's impact on postsecondary education and on students' education, training, and employment after high school. Data were collected in three studies: the Local Partnership Survey, which was developed to document the characteristics and development of STW partnerships; in-depth case studies in Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, and Wisconsin and in selected local sites; and surveys of three cohorts of 12th-grade students in the same eight states to document their career goals, experiences in courses integrating academic and vocational instruction and in the workplace, and perceptions of links between school and workplace components. As of July 1996, 10 of 27 states receiving STWOA had established statewide partnerships. Although career development activities were engaging most students, other STW elements were less pervasive. Few schools offered all key STW components. (Thirty-nine tables/figures are included. Appendices contain the following: local partnership survey completion rates, characteristics of student sample, and student subgroup participation probabilities.) (MN)