Recent organizational changes in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as well as the formation of Alaska's Rural Education Attendance Areas (REAAs) have important implications for the education of rural Native American children. The Title XI Education Amendments passed in November, 1978 (P.L. 95-561) aim at solving some of the administrative problems caused by distance, diversity, and isolation of BIA-operated and funded schools. The legislation requires structural changes that will result in: funding (based on an equitable formula) going directly to the school level, allowing for development of programs to meet special student needs and for greater local policy control; more flexible personnel staffing; improved efficiency and communication due to direct line authority from the Office of Indian Education Programs to the schools; and development of uniform policies and procedures as the basis for system planning, development, and evaluation. Thus far, greater local control has resulted from the development of Alaska's REAAs. Local Native Alaskan authorities may choose to transfer their BIA school to the REAA system, contract with BIA to operate the school, or remain in the federal system. Court mandated secondary education is causing small, isolated high schools to proliferate but solutions to that problem are being sought in such options as satellite instruction and regional resource centers. (SB)