Public schools in the United States are seeing an increase in emergent bilingual (EB) students, which calls for intentional efforts to develop or support programs that best meet their English language acquisition and academic needs. This chapter introduces the process of English language acquisition, including the stages of second language acquisition, and then provides an overview of the instructional programming available for EB students, including English-only and bilingual models. It addresses the main characteristics of dual-language models, structured English immersion, and English as a second language, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of such programming on EB students’ English language acquisition and educational outcomes. This chapter also discusses how state and federal policies have impacted the education of EB students as well as how these policies might be associated with EB students’ short- and long-term high school graduation outcomes. Finally, the chapter reviews how instructional models support or hinder language and literacy development and reflects on the implications for assessment and intervention. Recommendations for practice are provided.