Children with limited English proficiency are known to be at higher risk of school failure than their peers. Risk starts early, and the achievement lag of these children often widens with age and progression in the educational system. This study attempted to determine the effects of a 2-way bilingual education program on the literacy development of at-risk kindergarten students who had lower English proficiency and were in a higher failure risk bracket than a comparison group who had higher initial English competence and participated in regular education. Students in the experimental group were instructed in English approximately 70% of the time and in Spanish approximately 30% of the time. At the end of the 1st grade, no statistically significant differences were found between the 2 groups on the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) or a combination of 6 other indicators of English literacy development.