To this time, language arts-reading programs established by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) totally immerse the young Indian student in a complete English environment. The real problem is not so much the type of program used, but the feelings of the teachers working with the students. Until very recently, few of the teachers in BIA schools were of Native American descent. Most reading programs for the Indian student stress language performance, exercising intonation rather than language competence. For the Indian child entering school for the first time at the age of seven or eight, there are many immediate problems in adjustment. The child is faced with learning a second language, which involves becoming sensitive to new, very alien sounds, new grammatical-morphological patterns, new word meanings, and a new underlying world view or way of ordering data. In studies conducted with Native American children in both the United States and Mexico, it was found that when students were instructed in their native speech their proficiency in the second language was greater than if they were instructed only in the national language of the country. It is felt bilingual programs would be necessary to ensure equal educational opportunity for every child. (WR)