A study evaluated two El Paso, Texas bilingual education program types, including a state-mandated transitional model (n=18 schools, 5,607 students) and a bilingual immersion program (n=19 schools, 4,717 students). Both programs are designed so students will exit after grade 4, but some continue in grades 5 and 6. Student characteristics are similar across programs. Transitional programs have tended toward the audio-lingual approach, and immersion uses recent language-acquisition methods and the whole language approach and teaches reading and content areas in English. More recently, a language-arts approach has been encouraged, but not widely embraced, in the transitional program. Longitudinal data on student progress in the two program models and process data for three years has been gathered, and teachers were surveyed twice. Analysis of the data indicates that as in previous years, the immersion students performed better on standardized tests than transitional program students, with the gap narrowing in reading and math in the upper grades. Regardless of program, the students make the same average grades and are promoted at a similar rate. It is concluded that the bilingual immersion program can provide needed first-language instructional support and development as well as a richer, faster, more complete exposure to English. (MSE)