Briefly outlines some of the Federal school improvement efforts during the last two dozen years that led to the development of a procedure (here described) to measure the performance of programs for Limited English Proficient students. Results of a field test of the measurement procedure are discussed. (BJV)

Rossell's critique of the Walsh and Carballo (1986) study of five bilingual education programs in Massachusetts is marred by a number of problems, here identified. (BJV)

Defends the Walsh and Carballo (1986) study of five bilingual education programs in Massachusetts against Rossell's critique of the study. (BJV)

To study impact of bilingual education programs on reading and mathematics achievement, 278 Mexican-American seventh and eighth grade students were examined over a three-year period. The effects of the following variables on posttest scores were examined: (1) pretest scores; (2) gender; and (3) group (bilingual or mainstream). (BJV)

Despite claims that structured immersion programs for language minority students cannot work for low-income students, two immersion projects with low-income Hispanic and Asian children worked; their effects appeared to endure even after students entered the mainstream. (BJV)

Despite their claim to the contrary, Walsh and Carballo in their report, "Transitional Bilingual Education in Massachusetts: A Preliminary Study of Its Effectiveness" (1986), did not demonstrate the superiority of bilingual education because their study was marred by a number of problems, here identified. (BJV)

Federal reports are critical of bilingual education, but most reports and evaluations published on bilingual education are based on seven fallacious assumptions, here identified. (BJV)