The Seattle Public Schools serve one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation. The school system's enrollment represents many racial and ethnic groups and includes students from around the world who come to Seattle speaking many languages and families who came to the city generations ago. The challenge facing Seattle and all other major city school systems across the country is to educate all of its students to the highest standards regardless of their national origin, native language, or previous educational experiences. District leadership of the district asked the Council of the Great City Schools to conduct a critical review of the school system's programs to teach students who are learning English as their second language. The Council Strategic Support Team found an instructional program serving its English language learners is highly fragmented, weakly defined, poorly monitored, and producing very unsatisfactory academic results. The report recommends an almost complete overhaul and reform of the district's efforts on behalf of its English language learners. The most important proposals are designed to strengthen English-language development efforts and to boost the ability to teach these students to the highest standards in the various content areas. Key proposals call for the school system to define its goals for the academic attainment of English language learners more precisely and to define the nature of its instructional programs for these students more deliberately. The report also calls for the infusion of greater accountability at all staff levels for improving the academic proficiency of English language learners as the district is working to close gaps among all children. The Council's team proposes to restructure the current program by replacing the pull-out approach that the school district now uses with an initiative that more systematically strengthens English-language development and mastery of core content. The report also calls on the district to develop a network of dual language programs for students across the school district. Other proposals are made to revamp the district's data systems, upgrade professional development, redefine and redeploy instructional assistants, and involve the community more intensely in the district's programming. Five chapters include: (1) Background; (2) Purpose and Origin of Project; (3) Findings; (4) Recommendations; and (5) Synopsis and Discussion. Six appendices are included: (1) Demographic History of Seattle Public Schools; (2) Excerpt from Washington State Standards; (3) Individuals Interviewed; (4) Documents Reviewed; (5) Strategic Support Team; and (6) About the Council. (Contains 71 footnotes, 2 graphs and 14 tables.)