The United States has a long record of ambivalence toward recent immigrants. Nowhere is this love-hate relationship more evident than in the public school systems of high-immigration states like California, where pro- and anti-immigration advocates have waged a long-running battle over "bilingual" education versus "English immersion" programs. Unfortunately, this fierce political debate does not always acknowledge day-to-day reality in the schools, and the policies that result may ultimately hinder the schools and students they intend to help. Beyond Bilingual Education cuts through the politics, offering a statistical portrait of English language learners in five large California school districts and highlighting the results of more than 120 interviews conducted with teachers, school administrators, and community service providers about the challenges facing recent immigrants and the schools that serve them. This combined approach yields essential intelligence for policymakers, advocates, and administrators seeking to escape the trap of immigration politics. It is a vital perspective, because how schools receive, treat, and educate these future workers will directly affect the country's economic and social health and progress. This book starts with acknowledgments and abbreviations. It contains seven chapters: (1) Immigrant Education-The Program and Policy Landscape; (2) Recent Immigrant and ELL Students and Their Schools; (3) School Achievement and Resources: The Differing Experience of Recent Immigrant and ELL Students; (4) Recent Immigrant Challenges and Public School Responses; (5) The Debate over Language Acquisition: Caught between "Bilingual" Education and English Immersion' (6) Educator Evaluations of Language Assessment, Placement, and Accountability Systems; and (7) Mapping Recent Immigrant Students onto the Education Political Landscape: Summary, Policy Recommendations, and Directions for the Future. The following are appended: (1) California State Programs Serving Immigrant and ELL Students; (2) Data Sources, Descriptive Methods, and Additional Quantitative Analysis; (3) Selection Processes and Methods for Interviews; (4) Coding Criteria for Language Assessment and Accountability Analysis; (5) Additional Discussion on General Impressions of the Academic Performance Index (API); and (6) Sample Home Language Survey. An epilogue and references are included.