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Volume 24 1985 Contents

  • Issue 1 January 1985
    • PROGRAMMING SUCCESS: SPECIAL STUDENT SERVICES AND THE AMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE STUDENT
      Bobby Wright [pp. 1-7]
      The article examines special student services and their impact upon the achievement and retention of Native American college students. The specific support areas discussed are: (1) academic support services, (2) counseling support services, (3) ethnic studies, (4) faculty and administrators. Noting the comparatively low educational attainment of American Indians, the author offers five recommendations for advancing current efforts towards equal educational opportunity. *

    • TRAINING PROJECT FOR INDIAN SCHOOL LIAISON AND SUPPORT PERSONNEL IN SPECIAL EDUCATION
      U. Stuecher; E. Grossman; N. Hakala; G. Kozlowski [pp. 9-19]
      The study discusses a training program for Indian community members in Minnesota as support personnel in paraprofessional roles. The article examines four levels of training: (1) theories, concepts, philosophy and terminology used in the Social Sciences and in Special Education; (2) ethical considerations and process variables in the Western and Indian view of life; (3) interpersonal communication and social skills; (4) "burn-out" and stress in human services. Also explored is advocacy effectiveness and impact on Indian students.

    • YAQUI WORLD VIEW AND THE SCHOOL: CONFLICT AND ACCOMMODATION
      John H. Chilcott [pp. 21-32]
      The article examines the socio-religious domain of the Arizona Yaqui Indians as it exists apart from the external world of the modern industrial society. Discussed are the two realms of the profane, good versus evil, and the sacred world of huya ania. The author believes educational mechanisms based on the Yaqui world view must be used to assist Yaqui youth to accommodate to the school. Information was gathered for the article by a team of researchers at the University of Arizona. Includes a list of 10 cultural dissonances isolated by the researchers.

    • RECEPTIVE AND EXPRESSIVE VOCABULARIES OF YOUNG INDIAN CHILDREN
      James B. Connelly [pp. 33-37]
      The article examines the vocabulary test scores of students in grades one through three from four schools in Alaska measuring verbal skills levels. The PPVT-R and the WISC-R Vocabulary subtest were administered to 100 Indian and 106 non-Indian students. Similar correlations of .59 and .65 were obtained between the two tests in the two groups, respectively. The author cites that although the Indian students obtained significantly lower mean scores on both tests, the difference between the two tests means was significantly greater in the Indian population.

    • MATH ACHIEVEMENT OF NATIVE AMERICANS IN NEVADA
      John H. Trent; Robert A. Gilman [pp. 39-45]
      A study undertaken in Nevada public schools to discover if Native American students, grades K-12, did not achieve as well in mathematics as their Caucasian counterparts. As a result of the study, the authors believe that remediation, individualized instruction, increased awareness of cultural backgrounds, culturally unbiased texts, and occupational counseling accompanied by sensitivity on the part of the entire school staff are essential if Nevada Native American students are to attain at least minimal competencies in mathematics.

  • Issue 2 May 1985

    • A FAMILY SYSTEMS APPROACH FOR SERVING RURAL, RESERVATION NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
      Joanne C. O'Connell [pp. 1-6]
      A paper presented at the Annual Arizona Council for Exceptional Children Conference (1985) which addressed some of the major problems and concerns for educators delivering early intervention to rural, reservation Native American families in terms of the Family Systems Model. The four subdivisions of the Family Systems Model are employed with particular attention to variations in family membership and style, cultural style, ideological style and relationship parameters. The author sees Native American values as essential to delivering early intervention services.

    • AMERICAN INDIAN PERSONNEL PREPARATION IN SPECIAL EDUCATION: NEEDS, PROGRAM COMPONENTS, PROGRAMS
      Anna Gajar [pp. 7-15]
      A review of needs in personnel and program needs for Native American handicapped children is given. The article also reviews the components of one of many training programs which have been funded by the United States Department of Education - The American Indian Special Education Teacher Training Program at Pennsylvania State University. Also included is a list of the curriculum's 13 different "skill clusters," a list of the program's eight stage progression, and a list of 10 Department of Personnel Preparation American Indian Projects located in Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota.

    • THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL TESTING REPORTS AS PERCEIVED BY TEACHERS IN AN INTERTRIBAL SECONDARY BOARDING SCHOOL
      M. Bryce Fifield [pp. 16-24]
      A study which developed and employed a combination of questionnaires for gathering data from educators to determine the effectiveness of psychoeducational assessment reports in communicating testing results and programming recommendations. A sample of 19 reports were selected from 90 students (junior high and high school) tested in a BIA boarding school. The article cites measures of relevance and the appropriateness of diagnostician's conclusions and recommendations concerning the referred students. The author concludes that methods of improving psychological testing reports are necessary and provides recommendations.

    • PRESCRIPTIVE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION AT THE DORM LEVEL
      Glenn Latham; Richard West; Sarah Chambers Collins [pp. 25-37]
      The article examines the "prescription behavioral intervention project" which was set in motion at the Intermountain Inter-Tribal School (IIS) in the 1980-81 school year. Paraprofessional employees (trainees) modified the behavior of students experiencing trouble during non-school hours (while in the dorms). The authors present the results of two female dorm attendants who worked with six female subjects. Included are write-ups on all six subjects which include age, year in school, number of years at IIS, tribe, description of behavior problems, treatment goal and intervention strategy. The authors also relate five contributing conditions which seemed to account for lack of male dorm-resident participation.

    • BILINGUAL SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER TRAINING FOR AMERICAN INDIANS
      Leonard Baca; Ofelia Miramontes [pp. 38-47]
      The article examines three areas of emphasis in bilingual special education: (1) an overview of the recent history of bilingual education teacher training from 1978 to 1984; (2) characteristics of current training programs, teacher education and American Indian training programs; (3) the Navajo Special Education Teacher Development Program, including student/faculty interviews. The summary provides areas of concern shown by the participants indicating administration, support services, housing registration, orientation and regular inservicing of educators in special education student programs.

  • Issue 3 July 1985

    • THE NAVAJO STUDENT AND THE TENNESSEE SELF CONCEPT
      Phyllis Tempest [pp. 1-7]
      A study which evaluates the Navajo student using the Tennessee Self Concept; TSC is designed to measure how a student feels about her or himself when it is used in combination with other "tests." As a result of the study, the author believes an emotional measure can aid the teacher in conferencing with the student and the student's parents. The teacher will be able to understand the student, and the student will understand how her/his behavior is viewed by her/his teacher and how it affects her/his achievement.

    • RESEARCH INTO NATIVE NORTH AMERICANS' COGNITION: 1973-1982
      Barry Osborne [pp. 9-25]
      The article reviews 10 years of research into cognition among Native Americans (very broadly defined to include studies of visual and social perception, cognitive style, concrete/formal operational ability, language abilities and cognitive strengths) using Kleinfeld's (1973) review of the possible cognitive strengths of Inuits as a framework. The author reviews 28 studies and identifies promising areas for future research.

    • LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND THE MATHEMATICS CONCEPT OF AMERICAN INDIAN LEARNERS
      Duane E. Schindler; David M. Davison [pp. 27-34]
      The article reviews current literature in the field and reports the results of the authors' study of perceived utility in mathematics and technical language in the Crow Indian language. The authors believe Crow language bilingual education programs can minimize many problems experienced by Crow speaking children by emphasizing the interrelationships of mathematical terms and concepts in both English and Crow. Avenues for further research are presented.

    • THE SOFT-SPOKEN WAY VS. THE OUTSPOKEN WAY: A BILINGUAL APPROACH TO TEACHING SPEECH COMMUNICATION TO NATIVE PEOPLE IN ALBERTA
      Richard Fiordo [pp. 35-48]
      The article reviews the endeavors to teach speech communication "peaceably" to Native American people in Alberta and includes: (1) a brief account of Canadian historical and legal policy from 1867 to the present, (2) a brief explanation of paralanguage, (3) an explanation of the soft-spoken and outspoken ways, (4) a comparison of speech evaluation sheets of 200 Native and 200 non-Native classroom speeches. The author also presents three speculations on why the bicultural approach may be beneficial.
* Page numbers refer to location in the original published version of the article.

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