The work involved in preparing writing skill specifications that could be used to determine bilingual students' entry into and exit from bilingual programs is described in this paper. The first section of the paper details the steps involved in identifying the critical writing skills required in grades one through six, while the second section discusses techniques for assessing those skills. The final section reviews some of the problems that were encountered in completing the specifications. A copy of a computer printout of data collected from textbooks, a chart depicting the variation that occurs between authorities' designations and textbook presentation of certain skills, and a portion of the complete framework are appended. (FL)