A Two-way Dual Language Program contains Spanish-speaking students and English-speaking students in the same educational environment to provide communicative and academic language development. This is through an interactive and cross-cultural setting. Program participation begins in kindergarten, which continues through the fifth grade. The Two-way Dual Language Program develops bilingualism and bi literacy in all students through instruction of all curriculum areas. The amount of Spanish and English instruction for both ELL's and SSL's is both instruction in English and Spanish in most schools. There is a 90/10 model, wherein instruction in Kinder is initiated 90% of the time in Spanish and 10 % in English. Spanish is decreased and English is increased until reaching a 50/50 ratio by fifth grade. The ultimate goal is bilingualism and bi-literacy for all students.
             From there, Two-way bilingual immersion (TWBI) programs integrate students who are ELLs and English proficient (EP) for content and literacy instruction in both languages (Lindholm-Leary, 2004). Some programs allocate equal amounts of time to both languages, whereas others begin with more instruction in the first language and less in English. The theoretical framework of TWBI programs is that they give equal status to both languages, which makes them better at promoting language and positive interactions among students. The TWBI programs in the United States has grown over the past 15 years to over 260 programs nationwide (Center for Applied Linguistics, 2002).
             ELL students face the challenging task of mastering a new language while also learning subject-area content. Although there have been signs of progress, including higher reading and math scores for ELL student as reported on the NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress, more improvement is needed. English language learners receive lower grades, are judged by their teachers to have lower academic abilities, and...