States and localities play the principal role in educating all students, including those with limited English proficiency, with most states providing supplemental aid specifically to address the special needs of these students. According to a November 1997 report (the latest available) by the Institute for Research in English Acquisition and Development, 39 states have some form of regulations targeting these students, ranging from a mandate in Texas that school districts provide bilingual instruction in at least some grades to a mandate in California that school districts provide instruction only in English. For the past 30 years, the federal government has served students with limited English proficiency primarily through title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The Bilingual Education Act, enacted in 1968, also serves a small percentage of these students under a supplemental grant program that assists local school districts in teaching students who do not know English. Other programs that may address, at least in part, the educational needs of children with limited English proficiency include the Emergency Immigrant Education Program, the Migrant Education Program, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act programs, and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act programs (see table 1). The only programs that serve primarily children with limited English proficiency are those associated with the Bilingual Education Act. Federal policy for ensuring equal educational opportunity for children with limited English proficiency has been largely shaped by title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA), and related court decisions. Title VI bans discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. In Lau v. Nichols, the Supreme Court held that a school district’s failure to provide English-language instruction to non- English-speakers violated title VI. Like title VI, the EEOA also protects the civil rights of students with limited English proficiency. Under the EEOA, it is unlawful for an educational agency to fail to take “appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by its students in instructional programs.” In 1981, a federal court of appeals decision, Castaneda v. Pickard, created a test for evaluating the adequacy of a school district’s approach to addressing the needs of its non-English- speaking students and limited-English-speaking students. The Department of Education uses the test set forth in the Castaneda decision as the basis for determining whether a school district program for serving students with limited English proficiency is complying with title VI. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Education’s OCR has 12 regional offices that enforce title VI and other civil rights statutes. In the five cases we reviewed, OCR initiated investigations independently or after deciding that a complaint brought by an individual or group met certain criteria. To determine which school districts had potential problems with their programs and therefore warranted a compliance review, OCR gathered and analyzed statistical data and other information from state education agencies, advocacy groups, parents, and OCR surveys. Once OCR selected a school district for review, it requested data from the school district and, if necessary, conducted on-site visits to schools in the district. If OCR found a school district was not in compliance with civil rights laws, it worked with the district to negotiate an agreement on the problems and the steps required to address those problems (the corrective action plan). During the period in which OCR monitored the implementation of the corrective action plan, school districts periodically submitted information to OCR regarding their programs for children with limited English proficiency. Figure 1 shows the title VI investigative process used by OCR in the five cases we reviewed in depth. In November 1994, OCR changed the procedural guidance it followed from the Investigation Procedures Manual to the Case Resolution Manual. OCR officials told us that since about 1995 they have implemented a more cooperative approach to their reviews. Under this approach, OCR has focused on finding early resolutions to problems and working cooperatively throughout the process with school district and state officials. Also, under this approach, a letter of findings is issued only when problems remain unresolved. No clear consensus exists among researchers and educators on the length of time needed for children with limited English proficiency to become proficient in English. Four factors make generalizations difficult: (1) differences in instructional approaches used to teach children English and the quality of that instruction, (2) differences in the ways states measure proficiency, (3) differences in student characteristics, and (4) the lack of definitive research on this issue. Two basic approaches are used to instruct students with limited English skills. One uses English and makes little use of a student’s native language (English-based approach), while the other makes much more extensive use of a student’s native language, often for a number of years (bilingual approach). Proponents of an English-based approach expect children to learn English fairly quickly, in 2 to 3 years. For example, in Monroe County, Florida, one of the districts we visited, elementary school children with limited English proficiency receive all formal content area instruction in English, alongside their English-fluent peers. District officials told us they chose this English-based approach in part because they believe children learn English more quickly when they are immersed in it. On average, elementary school students enrolled in the district’s English-language acquisition programs receive services for 3 years. The bilingual approach is designed to take much longer—often 5 years or more. While bilingual programs vary in both their goals and length, those programs that promote native-language literacy as well as English-language literacy may take 5 to 7 years to complete. For example, the San Antonio School District develops early literacy in Spanish, beginning with prekindergarten instruction. The program is designed to simultaneously develop English literacy, with a full transition to English-only instruction by the sixth grade. District officials said they believe it is important to develop bilingual citizens in a city that has a long bilingual tradition. Most of the city’s population is Hispanic, and a large proportion of the city’s residents speak both Spanish and English. The National Research Council has determined that there is “little value in conducting evaluations to conclude which type of program is best. The key issue is not finding a program that works for all children and all localities, but rather finding a set of program components that works for the children in the community of interest, given that community’s goals, demographics, and resources.” Whether a school district chooses an English-based or bilingual approach to teaching students with limited English proficiency, instructional quality will ultimately affect children’s academic achievement. Characteristics that contribute to high-quality programs, according to some educators, include adequately trained teachers, clearly articulated goals, systematic assessments, and opportunities for children to practice their English. In our site visits, for example, we visited one classroom in Cicero, Illinois, in which a bilingual education teacher who had been recruited from a Spanish-speaking country was using audiotapes to teach students English during the daily period dedicated to learning English. The students listened and followed along in their workbooks as a speaker on the tape read them a children’s story in English. There was no interaction between the teacher and the students. In contrast, in a Key West, Florida, classroom we visited, the bilingual education classroom teacher did not use audiotapes but instead read aloud a children’s story to his students. This teacher paused frequently to quiz the students on what they had heard. This activity not only gave the teacher an opportunity to see what his students understood of the story but also gave the students an opportunity to speak and practice English. No clear consensus exists about how proficiency should be defined or measured. Educators and researchers have observed that children who speak little or no English may develop “verbal proficiency”—that is, conversational skills on a par with those of their English-speaking peers— in 2 years or less. Broader “academic proficiency,” such as the reading and communicating of abstract ideas required for grade-level academic performance, can take several more years to acquire. Little agreement exists on an appropriate standard against which English proficiency should be measured. Some educators and language experts believe that a child should perform at age- or grade-appropriate levels in reading and other core academic subjects on standardized tests performed in English before the child can be considered English-proficient. This means that the child should score at or above the 50th percentile on a standardized achievement test. In contrast, some states consider students English-proficient when they score at the 40th percentile or even at the 32nd. Some critics question the validity of using these types of standardized achievement tests to measure whether a student’s achievement in English is better than, the same as, or worse than that of other children in his or her age group. These critics argue that a student’s performance on these tests does not necessarily reflect mastery or lack of mastery of certain English skills because the tests are designed to assess a student’s mastery of other subjects. Performance on standardized achievement tests is just one of several criteria states and districts may use to determine if a child is proficient in English. We found that in Rockford, Illinois, officials combined the results of an academic achievement test, English proficiency tests, and an academic review conducted by school and district officials to determine a child’s English proficiency level. In contrast, we found that in Texas students could be considered proficient by scoring at or above the 40th percentile on both the English reading and language arts sections of a state- approved norm-referenced academic assessment. Research indicates that the length of time needed to become proficient in English can vary from child to child. It can be affected by such factors as the child’s age, socioeconomic background, and amount of formal schooling already received in another language. For example, a 1997 study concluded that the most striking feature about learning a second language is the variability in outcomes. A frequently cited factor is a child’s age.