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The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 has guided federal vocational education policy in the United States for the past five years. One of its most significant components was its emphasis on using systematic outcome data as a programme monitoring and improvement tool. This report follows on from research that found that the performance measures and standards provisions were not achieving their full potential. This report examines the implications of that research for enhancing accountability in future federal workforce preparation legislation. It also illustrates how language could be changed to carry out the recommendations of the earlier study. Four features are identified as lacking but important for an outcome-based system to promote effective programme improvement. Specific examples are given of changes in language that would incorporate these features.