1. Programs should provide a minimum of four to six years of bilingual instruction to participating students.
2. The focus of instruction should be the same core academic curriculum that students in other programs experience.
3. Optimal language input (input that is comprehensible, interesting, and of sufficient quantity) as well as opportunities for output should be provided to students, including quality language arts instruction in both languages.
4. The non-English language should be used for instruction a minimum of 50 % of the time (to a maximum of 90 % in the early grades) and English should be used at least 10 % of the time.
5. The program should provide an additive bilingual environment where all students have the opportunity to learn a second language while continuing to develop their native language proficiency.
6. Classrooms should include a balance of students from the non-English and English backgrounds who participate in instructional activities together.
7. Positive interactions among students should be facilitated by the use of strategies such as cooperative learning.

Characteristics of effective schools should be incorporated into programs, such as qualified personnel and home-school collaboration.
Adapted from Lindholm, K. 1990. Bilingual immersion education: Criteria for program development. In A. Padilla, H. Fairchild, &, C. Valadez (Eds.), Bilingual education: Issues and strategies. pp. 91-105. Newbury Park, CA: Sage