Introduces special section in this issue on educating linguistic minority children. Relates the author's own experience as a participant observer in pioneering bilingual education efforts, and comments on the articles in this issue. (BJV)

Discusses the author's experience as director of the Program in English as a Second Language (ESL) at Lehman College of the City University in the Bronx, New York. ESL, bilingual, and mainstream (ie., curricula that assume English proficiency) programs should be better coordinated to meet their common goal. (BJV)

Rossell's critique of the Walsh and Carballo (1986) study of five bilingual education programs in Massachusetts is marred by a number of problems, here identified. (BJV)

Defends the Walsh and Carballo (1986) study of five bilingual education programs in Massachusetts against Rossell's critique of the study. (BJV)

To study impact of bilingual education programs on reading and mathematics achievement, 278 Mexican-American seventh and eighth grade students were examined over a three-year period. The effects of the following variables on posttest scores were examined: (1) pretest scores; (2) gender; and (3) group (bilingual or mainstream). (BJV)

Despite claims that structured immersion programs for language minority students cannot work for low-income students, two immersion projects with low-income Hispanic and Asian children worked; their effects appeared to endure even after students entered the mainstream. (BJV)

Despite their claim to the contrary, Walsh and Carballo in their report, "Transitional Bilingual Education in Massachusetts: A Preliminary Study of Its Effectiveness" (1986), did not demonstrate the superiority of bilingual education because their study was marred by a number of problems, here identified. (BJV)