These evaluations are complicated, however, by the difficulties in formulating a strong research design. For example, there is a great deal of variation among bilingual education programs, just as there is among mainstream programs. These research design issues seriously limit the ability of large comparative studies to make definitive claims about the effectiveness of bilingual education. Some research reviews of bilingual program evaluations have concluded that there is no difference between the English language development and academic achievement of students in bilingual programs versus students who received instruction in English only. Other reviews of bilingual evaluation studies have reached the opposite conclusion, that language minority students in bilingual programs outperform their peers in monolingual English programs.
Numerous resources are available on the subject of bilingual education.
The following digests, minibibs, books, and Web sites may be helpful. This ERIC digest is published by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools. The American Bilingual Tradition. You may also order it from Delta Systems' Web Site. Profiles in Two-Way Immersion Education.