As part of a discussion of the complexities of evaluating bilingual education, this paper discusses critical questions related to equitable education. A first concern is the development of standards. Children must be given equal opportunities to learn, but the development of standards and new assessments alone will not ensure that inequities will disappear. Performance assessments are not an answer either, since the implementation of performance assessments will show that test bias does not simply go away. Potential causes of bias in performance assessments will be language-dependent skills and the problem of situational or cultural contexts in the assessments that are unfamiliar to students from certain cultures. Practical approaches to ensuring accuracy in assessments for students with diverse learning needs begin with providing reasonable access to manipulatives and resources when possible and making sure the language of the directions is clear. Educators should request special administration conditions for students when needed. An example of mediated administration that is more equitable for students is presented in the Arizona Student Assessment Program (ASAP) (no longer the state assessment) and its accommodations for Spanish speaking students. Strategies are included for administering the ASAP in English to limited English proficient students. (Contains two tables.) (SLD)