Using extensive data gathered from a follow-up study on an early reading program which tested the reading competence of high school seniors who had received formal beginning reading instruction in kindergarten, an ancillary study investigated the effects of early formal reading instruction on bilingual students. Three of the dependent variables (reading comprehension, vocabulary, and remediation) from the full study were evaluated for 496 students identified as speakers of English as a second language. For each of these variables an analysis of variance was computed for three reading experience categories: (1) those receiving no kindergarten reading instruction; (2) those receiving some kindergarten reading instruction; and (3) those completing much/all of the kindergarten reading instruction provided. Consistent with the findings for other population groups of the parent study, results revealed that those bilingual students who began receiving their formal reading instruction in English at the kindergarten level had significantly better reading comprehension scores, significantly fewer remedial experiences, and generally better vocabulary scores as seniors in high schools than those bilingual students who did not. (One figure and one table of data are included for the bilingual study; an appendix containing a summary of the follow-up study is attached.) (KEH)