is to go easy on limited-English-proficient (LEP) children, to postpone the pain and confusion of acquiring a new language. They wonder if it wouldn't be better to teach the students English quickly - through "total immersion" - so they can get on with their schooling. Won't it lessen their motivation to learn by prolonging reliance on the first language?Such attitudes sustained generations of "sink or swim" schooling. LEP students were placed in English-only classrooms, with no special help in learning the language and no access to the curriculum until they did so. Inevitably they fell behind English-speaking peers. Some caught up, but many failed and dropped out.By the 1960s, a critical mass of educators and policymakers recognized the English-only approach was failing. Bilingual education seemed like a promising, if untested, alternative.Three decades later, research has confirmed the wisdom of this view. Over the long term, programs that develop children's native-language skills show beneficial effects on their English-language development and overall academic achievement.Yet skepticism persists. During the Proposition 227 campaign, journalists repeatedly asked: "If bilingual education is effective, why are language-minority students - Latinos in particular - continuing to fail and drop out at alarming rates?" There are several answers.First, the shortage of trained staff has grown increasingly acute in states like California, where LEP enrollments have risen rapidly. As a result, well-designed bilingual programs have been provided to only a tiny minority of English learners. 1 Second, research shows that students drop out for many reasons. Those who received bilingual education are more likely to stay in school. 2 Finally, native-language instruction is hardly a panacea for the academic problems of Latino or Asian students - any more than it is for Anglo students. It is merely one variable among many that determines the success or failure of an educational program.Nevertheless, bilingual education can be a crucial variable for many students learning English. Stephen Krashen, a linguist at the University of Southern California, explains how it works:We acquire language by understanding messages, by obtaining comprehensible input. When we give children quality education in their primary language, we give them two things:1. Knowledge, both general knowledge of the world and subject-matter knowledge, [which] helps make the English they hear more comprehensible. This results in more English acquisition. ... 2. Literacy, which transfers across languages. Here is a simple, three-step argument: (1) We learn to read by reading, by making sense of what we see on the page. (2) If we learn to read by reading, it will be much easier to learn to read in a language we already understand. (3) Once you can read, you can read. The ability to read transfers across languages. 3 [Emphasis added.] Thus, time spent studying in the native language is not time wasted in learning English. To the contrary, it supports English acquisition. Like other researchers in the field, Krashen advocates English instruction from day one in bilingual programs, but at a level students can understand. Beginners acquire conversational English from hearing it used in simple, real-life contexts, such as music, art, and physical education. Intermediate