A study consisting of two parts is reported. The first investigated the extent to which effective-teacher characteristics discussed in the literature were considered by parents and administrators to be salient in bilingual education. The second examined the extent to which students exhibited behavior suggesting they had received effective practices identified in the research literature. Fifteen parents and seven administrators of elementary school bilingual education programs completed questionnaires to identify characteristics of effective teachers. Following classification of teachers as effective, six limited-English-proficient (LEP) students from classrooms of two effective teachers and eight LEP students from four regular, non-bilingual classes were observed. All classes were in grades 1-3. Results indicate that parents and administrators recognize the need for teachers to be aware of children's cultural differences, but none mentioned the unique, effective instructional features cited in the research literature or the recommended early childhood practices. The study findings illustrate student behaviors and language patterns present in both classroom types and behaviors predominant in the effective bilingual classrooms (more involvement behavior, social interaction, native language use). However, these behaviors and patterns did not correspond entirely to recommendations in the literature. (MSE)