A recent National Research Council study, "Improving Schooling for Language-Minority Children: A Research Agenda" examined the status of bilingual education research and the direction of future studies. The report is discussed here, in a format corresponding to the report's sections on domains of research and practice: bilingualism and second-language learning; cognitive aspects of school learning: literacy development and content learning; the social context of school learning; student assessment; program evaluation; studies of school and classroom effectiveness; preparation and development of teachers; estimating population parameters; issues related to the research infrastructure; and priorities for research. The report concludes that while research has revealed a significant amount about how a second language is learned, it has shed little light on whether language minority children are doing so or how to help them succeed academically. The critique finds that the report overemphasizes how research has not been fruitful, and suggests that the interests of language-minority children would be better served by theory-based experimentation on effective schooling of poor children in general, not relying as heavily on second language acquisition research or remaining preoccupied with language of instruction. (MSE)