Nationally, the academic performance of Hispanic students is considerably below majority norms. According to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans (2003), the nation is "losing Hispanic American students all along the education continuum" (p.1). The Commission has further warned that the present crisis in educating Hispanic children threatens the ability of the United States to compete economically. Of particular concern is the serious shortfall in the number of Hispanic students entering the science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET) fields. Two-way bilingual programs (a.k.a. dual language education programs) are designed to provide a high quality educational experience for language minority students and to promote higher levels of academic achievement (Lindholm-Leary, 2001; Lindholm-Leary & Borsato, 2001). Two-way programs integrate native English-speaking students and native-Spanish speaking students and all content instruction is administered through both languages. The extant research indicates that two-way programs that are implemented correctly have very positive student outcomes at the elementary and early middle school levels. However, there is a dearth of findings regarding the impact that two-way bilingual programs have on academic outcomes at the high school level, and particularly whether it improves the success of students who entered school with limited English proficiency. The purpose of this study is to examine Hispanic high school students who had participated in a two-way program in elementary school, with respect to their performance in and attitudes toward mathematics and school. A total of 134 ninth-grade through twelfth-grade students participated in the study; they were categorized into one of three groups on the basis of their ethnicity and their language background (89 Hispanic Spanish-speakers, 27 Hispanic English-speakers, and 18 Euro American English-speakers). Students in the three groups differed significantly in their mothers' level of education ( 2 = 42.0, p < .001): higher levels of mom's education were represented among Euro students, and the lowest levels of education represented among Hispanic Spanish speakers. All students in the study completed a questionnaire that comprised questions concerning attitudes toward school, current schooling path and college ambitions, and parent and teacher support. Most of these items were rated on a five point Likert scale ranging from "strongly disagree" (1) to "strongly agree" (5). Results suggest that students who participated in the two-way bilingual program intend not to drop out of school, have the desire to attend college, understand the importance of getting good grades, have positive academic attitudes, and perceive that they received a better education in the two-way program and that they are doing at least as well as their non-two-way peers. In addition, the students scored average to slightly below average on standardized tests of mathematics in middle school, they are currently enrolled in higher-level math courses in which they receive average grades, and they have positive attitudes toward math. These results suggest that the two-way bilingual program may provide the academic preparation and schooling attitudes, even in mathematics, that enable these students to be more successful than the average at-risk Hispanic and low socio-economic status students described in the literature.

References
- Lindholm-Leary, K. J. (2001). Dual language education. Avon, England: Multilingual Matters.
- Lindholm-Leary, K. J. (2001), & Borsato, G. (2001). Impact of two-way bilingual elementary programs on students' attitudes toward school and college. Santa Cruz, CA: Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence.
- Presidential Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans (2003). From risk to opportunity: Fulfilling the educational needs of Hispanic Americans in the 21st century. Retrieved July 31, 2003 from www.yic.gov/paceea/finalreport.pdf