A report prepared for the U.S. Department of Education on three school program models for limited-English-speaking children is examined. The models include a structured English immersion strategy and early-exit and late-exit bilingual education. The report describes the three models, reviews evidence of their relative effectiveness, and assesses the study's implications in four areas: teacher qualifications, parent involvement in children's learning, quality of classroom learning environments, and generalizability of the study's findings. The most conservative, uncontroversial conclusion drawn in the report is that there are no differences in results among the programs studied. Additional conclusions are drawn here, among them that the amount of time spent using a language can no longer be considered the most important influence on learning it, but that a number of factors (e.g., teacher qualifications and parent involvement) are critical in second language learning and school success. It is concluded that although there is other evidence of the long-term benefits, of late-exit bilingual programs, bilingual programs are not feasible for all language minority children. In instances where bilingual education is not feasible, it is argued that carefully implemented immersion programs are clearly better than lack of any support. A brief bibliography is included. (MSE)