The BIA's Office of Indian Education Programs has appointed new chiefs for four of its six Central Office Divisions, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs Sidney Mills announced today.
Dr. Noah Allen has been named Chief of Elementary and Secondary Education; Leroy Falling, Chief of Post-Secondary Education; Carmen Taylor, Chief of Student Support Services; and Dr. Charles Cordova Chief of Exceptional Education. Student
Support Services and Exceptional Education are new divisions created in compliance with Title XI of PL 95-561, the Education Amendments of 1978.
Dr. Earl Barlow, Director of the Office of Indian Education Programs/, said “the filling of these key positions enable us to move ahead rapidly in implementing Public Law 95-561 and in providing a more relevant and quality education for Indian people.”
Allen, a member of the Euchee (Creek) tribe, now heads the division that Dr. Gabe Paxton, Acting Deputy Director of the Office, described as the heart of BIA education programs. The Division provides funding and direction for a Federal Indian school system of 224 schools that enrolls more than 43,000 Indian students. It also administers funds for special programs for more than Indian students attending public schools.
Allen has been an educator and a student of education for 28 years. The Haskell graduate received an M.A. in education from Kansas State College and a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon. From 1950 to 1957 he served as a teacher and a coach in public schools of Kansas and Oklahoma. He has been on staff of five universities as an athletic coach, professor, and from 1970 to 1974 he was coach, athletic director, and chairman of the Life Division at Haskell Indian Junior College at Lawrence, Kansas.
Leroy Falling, Cherokee, is in charge of the Bureau's grant assistance program for more than 20,000 Indian college students. His division administers the three Bureau post-secondary institutions and works with Indian tribally controlled community colleges.
Falling has worked in education programs of the BIA 24 years, striving to bring greater educational opportunities to Indians. His special concern is for those who have had little opportunity for education but really want to learn.
After receiving his B.A. from Anderson College in l950, Falling received an M.S. from Northern Arizona University as a prelude to doctoral studies. Warner Pacific College, where he received an A.A. in 1948, recently awarded falling an honorary doctorate of Human Letters for "contributions to the educational needs of Native Americans" through "energetic and responsible leadership within the BIA."
Carmen Taylor, a member of the Flathead Tribe, directs the new Division of Student Support Services created to improve student education outside of the classroom. This encompasses dormitory living, counseling and career guidance, testing, and activities and recreation. Taylor will be working to implement dormitory living standards and students rights regulations mandated in PL 95-561
Taylor received a B.A. from the University of Montana in 1971 and an M.E. from Montana State University in 1979. From 1971 to 1974 she was a counselor, assistant director, and director for the University of Montana's Upward Bound and Special Services Program for disadvantaged students. She has also been an education consultant for Montana's Department of Education in equal learning and opportunities.
Dr. Charles Cordova's new Division of Exceptional Education is assisting handicapped Indian students between the ages of three and21 enrolled in BIA operated or funded schools. The division is in the initial phase of implementing comprehensive special education programs in compliance with PL 95-561 and PL 94-142, the Education for all Handicapped Children Act. After receiving a B.S. in biology and chemistry and an M.S. in learning disabilities, Cordova earned a Ph.D. from the University of Northern Colorado. Cordova was assistant professor of special education at Northern Colorado University in 1973 and director of public education for the public schools in Pueblo, Colorado from 1974 to 1976. Since then he has been a state planning officer in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The other Central Office Divisions in the Office of Indian Education Programs are the Division of Planning and Program Development, headed by Jerry Waddell, and the Division of Management Support, with Edward Marich serving as Acting Chief.
