Concern for performance management has increased sharply in recent decades in both the public and private sectors.This has been particularly true in the management of state and federally funded human resource development programs. Legislative purpose, level of use, the role of performance standards, appropriate measures of performance, target groups, and general implementation policies are key issues that cut across the major publicly funded job training and placement programs. This report examines these program design and implementation issues in relation to Job Training Partnership Act programs, state-administered job placement and labor exchange programs, postsecondary vocational education,welfare-to-work programs for recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and the new state-run food stamp employment and training programs. Various contextual issues are discussed, including grant-in-aid programs, enhanced state discretion, market bias,ambiguous goals, appropriate actors/levels of use, appropriate groups, target groups, the role of standards, and adjustment processes. General recommendations to federal and state level policymakers and program-specific recommendations for addressing performance management issues are included