The Bureau of Indian Affairs office of education has become part of a network of 19 innovative school systems across the Nation.
Called ES' 70 (Educational Systems for the 70's), the group consists of school systems that have developed specialties in a variety of fields, above and beyond the standard curricula.
Some systems have set up new ways to teach mathematics; others have developed unique social studies programs, and still others are conducting experimental projects in bi-lingual education.
The purpose of the organization is to set up ideal environments for the teaching of each specialty, to note the most successful techniques, and to be able to pass on the knowledge to other educational systems.
The Bureau's contribution to the network will be a study of an integrated Arts and Academic curriculum, already highly successful at the BIA's Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M.
In a curriculum unusually rich in art courses, a student who may have become dulled to the excitement of personal accomplishment in his early years can be revitalized through the experience of his creative work, BIA educators believe.
The school's graduates include a novelist and a number of outstanding painters,
graphic artists and sculptors.
While training young Indians, Eskimos and Aleuts in a broad spectrum of the arts, along with formal education, the school works carefully to give the students pride in their ancestry and understanding of their cultural heritage. It teaches how these can become a valuable contribution to the world around them, whether expressed in painting, writing, drama, ceramics or other art fields.
When all teaching information has been assembled and the results tabulated, Bureau educators believe the same principles can be applied to other ethnic groups.
One of the anticipated tangible outcomes is a series of video tapes depicting the Indian arts such as the dance, painting and drama. The tapes then can be used as a unit in the arts curriculum in schools across the Nation.
The school systems involved in ES' 70 include that of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Ill, and public schools in the cities of Baltimore, Md.; Atlanta, Ga.; Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; Boulder, Colo.; Duluth, Minn.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Houston, Texas; Jacksort, Ky.; Mamaroneck, N. Y.; Mineola, N. Y.; Monroe, Mich.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Portland, Ore.; Quincy, Mass.; San Antonio, Texas; San Mateo, Calif.; and Willingboro, N.J.
