burden that programing for exceptional children places on the presently limited staff both from a curriculum and pupil personnel services standpoint. Without adequate resources to effect a quality school program for an average student population, it becomes proportionately more difficult to assume responsibility for a large number of students with special education needs. Of course, much the same statement could be made about other BIA schools, but the matter is made explicit by virtue of the student referrals made to Intermountain from the Navajo area.

E. SCHOOL HEALTH

An excellent relationship appears to exist between Intermountain administrative staff and health personnel of the Indian Health service.

The fact that the IHS offices are located in a wing of the Intermountain complex expedites communications and students referrals. Dr. Leopardi, the medical officer in charge, has a great interest in the school program and meets frequently with Miss Victor and her administrative staff. At present, Dr. Leopardi is developing a design for a model school health program to be implemented at Intermountain and indicates he is receiving the utmost cooperation from the school staff and nearby community resources. He was particularly pleased with the speech and hearing project the university was conducting at Intermountain and the consultative role Dr. Enoch G. Dangerfield was adopting with the instructional aides. For reference, Dr. Dangerfield's address and telephone number are, 1060 East 1st South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84102. Telephone: 801-328-0732. Dr. Dangerfield explained that his initial efforts had focused on the possibilities of individual therapy but he quickly realized that this was less productive for most students than consultation with instructional aides who have daily contact with them. In a few cases he is conducting individual therapy but feels communications, reliance on the medicine man and the like cause the in-service training with instructional aides to be more fruitful.

All representatives of the health services staff seemed to agree with the contention of the school staff that recognition of the special composition of the Intermountain student body with a concomitant increase in pupil personnel services staff at all levels was the single factor which would contribute most to the schools, ultimate success in meeting the needs of these students.

An increased number of instructional aides are needed along with opportunities for career development for this staff. In-service sessions with Dr. Dangerfield have been helpful but should be expanded. Although professional guidance personnel were present at the session that Dr. Dangerfield was conducting when this visit was made, the emphasis was placed on problems the instructional aides were encountering. While this focus is noteworthy and should be continued, it would be helpful if a more complete partnership between professionals and para-professionals could be fostered.

The entire layout of the Intermountain facility, particularly with reference to student living quarters, is less than ideal in terms of student traffic patterns. Frequently, students in moving from classes to their rooms, the dining room or recreational activities are compelled

to pass through dormitory areas. This situation seriously curtails the individuals privacy and accentuates a problem of stealing. With so much traffic by living areas it is difficult to supervise these areas carefully and students are forced to place all personal effects under lock and key. Evidence of this fact was the barren appearance of walls and bureaus especially in the boys living areas. One staff member explained that students who made picture frames and similar items in the shops were reluctant to display them at all because of the thefts. Admittedly this is a problem that would be difficult to completely eliminate in a school this large, but door locks and peer pressure might be utilized to reduce the problem. With some resolution of this issue, efforts might then be undertaken to enhance the lived-in appearance of the students' rooms.

There is an urgent need to incorporate a number of special projects into the basic program. At present, several projects with varying funding cycles are helping to keep them solvent.

Two illustrations are:

1. Speech and hearing: Through university and outside contract personnel this project is providing diagnosis and treatment and arranging in cooperation with the Indian Health Service for surgery. 2. School social work: Two teams of graduate social work students under a university supervisor are available for staff and student consultation on a limited basis according to the following schedule.

(a) First year graduate students-20 hours per week in group casework with an approximate caseload of 20.

(b) Second year graduate students-15 hours per week in individual casework with an approximate caseload of 7.

These students have aided in after school and recreational activities in some instances. Their university supervisor is enthusiastic about the potential of the project and is anxious to see Intermountain employ some of the program graduates who would appear to be ideally suited to such a role. Among other things, their training includes visits to homes and with social workers on the Navajo Reservation. The team felt there was need to coordinate and integrate these various services more fully. With improved communications and increased awareness of the potential contribution of the pupil personnel disciplines represented at Intermountain, the students would be the beneficiaries. To fully implement pupil personnel services at Intermountain, all but guidance counselors would have to be added in significant numbers. A comprehensive testing program is being undertaken at Intermountain on an experimental basis. In addition to reviewing the predictive validity of past tests, this program is intended to seek new avenues for personality and aptitude measurement and should be strongly encouraged.

A psychologist heads this one-man evaluation unit and would be appreciative of any pertinent information or research from other BIA personnel. From discussions with other school personnel, it was apparent that improved communications would enhance this project's value too. Not too many staff members were aware of or consulting with the psychologist.

F. RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The central office should interface with the Navajo area office to bring home the enormity of the problems created when large numbers of students arrive at Intermountain without records of any kind.

2. A decision needs to be made soon about the direction of the school and the type of student it will serve. At present Intermountain School has such a varied student body that it is impossible for the present staff and facility to meet all needs of all students.

3. The services of the area employment assistance officer are needed to work with the junior and senior students in developing plans for vocational training after graduation.

4. The implementation of a prevocational cooking class would provide an opportunity for boys to become involved in the foods and baking program.

5. Communications between the academic and pupil personnel services departments can be improved to better meet the needs of the students.

6. Reduce the student enrollment at Intermountain School to 1,500 students to give relief to an overcrowded facility.

7. Make $25,000 available to Intermountain School for the purchase of necessary textbooks and $3,000 for the administration of an academic achievement test.

8. Consideration should be given to the need for construction of an academic building so the school can schedule classes in the same general area. The present plant, an old Army hospital is not conducive to efficient scheduling and management.

9. There seems to be adequate usage of the placement services, however, it is suggested that placement services as they function at Intermountain would benefit from:

(a) Resumption and strengthening of the employment assistance office liaison. Increased involvement by employment assistance officers could relieve the present ad hoc office for part time and summer placement, occupational information discussions and other such activities.

(b) Those activities not within the purview of the employment assistance office should be part of the pupil personnel services component.

(c) Incorporation of more visual aids, occupational materials and the like in this aspect of the program. With the instructional service center on campus easy access to many current materials should be afforded.

CHARLES N. ZELLERS, Assistant Commissioner (Education) Bureau of Indian Affairs.

G. Magdalena, BIA Dormitory, Magdalena, New Mexico

1. REPORT BY DR. PATRICK LYNCH, DIRECTOR, EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTER, ALBUQUERQUE, N. MEX.

EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTER, Albuquerque, N. Mex., January 29, 1969.

Senator EDWARD M. KENNEDY,

Chairman, Indian Education Subcommittee,
Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.

DEAR SENATOR KENNEDY: This report was sent to the principal of Magdalena BIA dormitory. We were invited to talk with the staff by the principal in October of 1967. We detected a great amount of anxiety on the part of the staff about the older Indian boys. The staff realized that the disciplinary situation was so severe that older boys were building and expressing great hostility toward the staff. Involved and lengthy stories which ended with a hint of near-sexual assaults were told. It is probable that the woman staff member relating this material was indulging in as much daydreaming as reality.

Restraints existed in the dorm which included the following:

1. Game supplies which were missing pieces or damaged were not replaced, so as to teach the Indian children, in the words of the staff members, what happened when they didn't take care of their property. 2. The piano was locked up in a room and was not used, lest it be damaged.

3. Television was allowed on for 1 to 2 hours a day, only when the students "behaved."

4. One student in the entire dormitory was allowed to display any personal belongings-in this case the student was an artist and was allowed to hang three or four of his works in his room. All other rooms resembled Marine barracks quarters.

5. Students were not allowed to hike or to walk after dinner lest they run away. No hikes, track experiences, or walks were scheduled for Saturdays or Sundays for the same reason.

6. All students, including the 21-year-olds, were to be in bed by

9 p.m.

7. Students were not allowed home on weekends except for very special reasons. Parents were not encouraged to come to the dorm at any time except to take the student home, lest the boy or girl be tempted to leave school.

8. No physical activities or recreation activities were scheduled for any time. No clubs, no student organizations, no trips, nothing to break the monotony of student prison life existed.

9. Staff complaints were excessive about student behavior, which in truth appeared to be very commendable, considering the prisonlike atmosphere. Staff counselors were extremely critical of students.

35-479-69-pt. 3- -9

10. No decorations, at work, rugs, or furniture arrangements were used to make the dormitory seem like something other than the dreariest of jails.

11. For every positive verbal recommendation, a rejection was offered. Parents could not be brought in because they were too irresponsible and too interested in drinking. Students wanted only to run away or break things, etc.

Dr. James Porterfield of the Educational Service Center forwarded this enclosed two-page set of recommendations to the principal of the dormitory in November 1967. We have had no reply from the dormitory people since then.

The articles on the Navajo dormitories appeared in the Albuquerque Journal on December 18 and 31. The articles were staff written by the Gallup Independent News and quoted Dr. Bergman.

Sorry to have been so late with this. If you need anything more, let me know.

Sincerely,

DR. PATRICK D. LYNCH,
Project Director.

Inasmuch as the Magdalena dormitory and its relationship to the Alamo Reservation seems to be a unique situation; and inasmuch as the main reservation roads have been improved; and inasmuch as electricity has recently arrived on the reservation, are resulting in improved living conditions; and inasmuch as the dormitories are within approximately 35 miles of the children's homes, I would like to propose the following policy change for your consideration and approval.

Proposal: I propose that we bus all children home each weekend. The children would enjoy an early evening meal at 4 p.m. and board the homeward bound busses at approximately 5 p.m. each Friday. The children would board the dormitory bound buses Sunday at approximately 4 p.m. Upon their return to the dormitory a warm bath, clean clothes, good food and a planned evening of fun would await them. The local public school bus contractor would charge approximately ($450.00) Four-hundred-fifty for each weekend of service.

I feel a number of advantages and values would result from such a policy change.

1. Break the monotony of the seven day week at dormitory. Going home for the weekend would add variety to the children's lives and I think they would return to school on Monday with renewed interest and purpose, bolstered by parental love and encouragement.

2. Provide adult education. One of the greatest sources for growth and change in any culture is the young people going forth and returning home with new ideas, new ways of doing and thinking. Sending the children home each weekend would in effect be a 266 tenticaled educational octopus reaching into the homes on the Alamo reservation. One of the great problems on the reservation is the gap in knowledge and understanding which exists between children and parents. The children being at home on weekends would tend to reduce this gap, while staying in the dormitory can only increase it.

3. Provide for parental rights. I think every parent has the right to expect his cultural values to live on through his children. The children being home on weekends would provide this opportunity to the Navajo parent.