A second important feature of this New York City edition of the New Standards is the inclusion of work in native language arts. The New York City Board of Education has resolved that the performance standards expected of students who receive instruction in their native language should be the same as the performance standards expected of English-proficient students. Native language arts teachers, with expertise in Spanish, Chinese, Haitian, Korean, and Russian, met and reviewed this edition of the standards.

The samples of student work in native language arts illustrate the expectations for performance by students in Spanish Language Arts. Development of a collection of student work in other languages will follow the work on Spanish Language Arts. We decided to begin with Spanish, since 86% of students in bilingual education programs in New York City are Spanish-speaking. Our experience will be used as a basis for the work that lies ahead.
The Spanish language work samples represent the work of students in bilingual general education who receive parallel instruction to that of their English-proficient peers. It must be noted, however, that there is a group of students with little schooling, interrupted schooling, or no formal schooling whose needs and progress will have to be considered separately. With proper support and time, these students will be able to reach the same standards as all other students.