WRITTEN REGULATIONS AND POLICIES GOVERNING THE EDUCATIONAL PLACEMENTS AND SERVICES PROVIDED FOR HANDICAPPED AMERICAN INDIAN CHILDREN.
Since the enactment of Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, 1975, the Office of Special Education (OSE) within the United States Department of Education (USDE) has channeled funds directly into services for handicapped American Indian children. Despite the multiple service providers and the funds avail~ble, services provided for handicapped Indian children do not seem to be adequate. Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) studies show that Indian children have a higher than average incidence of handicaps but are not afforded the services necessary to deal with these handicaps. A paucity of information exists about services for Indian youth, and research on the adequacy of services provided by the multiple service agencies appears to be limited. Various service components such as identification, evaluation, placement, and service continuum may be administered by different agencies and complicates systematic accountability in the care of handicapped children. Reservations generally have five main service providers: (1) state and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs); (2) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); (3) Health and Human Services (HHS); (4) Indian Health Service (IHS); and (5) Tribal agencies. This study analyzed policies of the five agencies and the legal provisions under which they operate. The study also offers some solutions to the chronic problems in education that are confronted by handicapped Indian children on Arizona Indian Reservations.
The Education of the American Indians, A Survey of the Literature.
A 1969 report to the United States Office of education entitled "The Education of American Indians- A Survey of the Literature," which is written by the Brewton Berry Research Foundation. This project was designed to survey the literature on the education of American Indians.
Exceptional Children
All children exhibit differences from one another in terms of their physical attributes (e.g., some are shorter, some are stronger) and learning abilities (e.g., some learn quickly and are able to remember and use what they have learned in new situations; others need repeated practice and have difficulty maintaining and generaliz ing new knowledge and skills). The differences among most children are relatively small, enabling these children to benefit from the general education program. The physical attributes and/or learning abilities of some children, however—those called except ional children—differ from the norm (either below or above) to such an extent that they require an individualized program of special education and related services to fully benefit from education. The term exceptional children includes children who experience difficulties in learning as well as those whose performance is so superior that modifications in curriculum and instruction are necessary to help them fulfill their potential. Thus, exceptional children is an inclusive term that refers to children with learning and/or behavior problems, children with physical disabilities or sensory impairments, and children who are intellectually gifted or have a special talent. The term students with disabilities is more restrictive than exceptional children because it does not include gifted and talented children. Learning the definitions of several related terms will help you better understand the concept of exceptionality.