This paper identifies how evaluation and research can contribute to federal policies for language-minority students who have limited proficiency in English. Federal bilingual education policies are controversial, and the debate benefits from systematically collected information about, and impartial evaluation of, bilingual programs. Specific focus of the paper is on the issues of evaluation and assessment in language-minority education within the context of education and its influence on the nation's future. The discussion is divided into three parts. The first part examines what has been learned from the evaluations of bilingual education conducted by the Federal Government during the 1980s. The second part assesses the implications of national standards and examinations for language-minorities. The final part considers how the evaluation findings and the national standard movement can suggest principles for design of future federal policies. (VWL)