In 1974, the United States Supreme Court ruled in "Lau v. Nichols" that 1,800 Chinese-speaking children in the San Francisco public schools were entitled to English-language instruction or other support to help them understand what was happening in their classrooms. Thirty-six years later, state and local responsibilities to public…

Discusses the definition, recipients, and effectiveness of bilingual education; traces the legal history of the concept and the various attempts in search of a constitutional right to bilingual education; and summarizes the present interpretation by courts. (MLF)

Provides an abbreviated update of a Spanish language program, initiated in Kansas City, Missouri in 1987-88, that was begun in response to a 1986 federal court order mandating the creation of magnet schools for ending segregative practices and beginning elementary school language immersion programs for French, German, and Spanish. (GLR)

Describes the Ann Arbor court decision, reviews current research dealing with teachers' language attitudes, and discusses implications for instruction. (MP)