History and Ideology of the Comer School Development Program in 

Prince George's County Public Schools
 

Definition of the Comer School Development Program 

The Comer School Development Program is a "systems approach" to school management, based on principles of child/adolescent growth and development and interpersonal relationships. Nine components are systematically used to address the areas of academic, social, and staff development. A School Planning and Management Team (SPMT), a Student and Staff Support Team (SSST), and a Parent's Team (PTSA, PTO) are the three major teams that address school-wide issues and oversee the development of the School Improvement Plan. The teams operate under three guiding principles, collaboration, no-fault problem solving, and decision-making by consensus. The School Improvement Plan includes goals and objectives for academic and social achievement of students, staff and family development, and measures for assessment and modification.
 
History of the School Development Program

The School Development Program (SDP) model was established by Dr. James P. Comer, a Child Psychiatrist, in 1968 in two elementary schools in New Haven, Connecticut, as a joint effort between the Yale University Child Study Center and the New Haven Public Schools. Both schools were near the bottom on standardized test scores and attendance. Staff morale was low, parents were angry and distrustful of the schools, and hopelessness and despair were pervasive.

Since 1968 the model has been utilized in more than 1150 schools nationwide and abroad.  Approximately 600 schools are currently at different phases of implementing the model.

The School Development Program, commonly referred to as the Comer Process, takes a uniquely supportive view of education with a focus on developing "the whole child."  Unlike models with a formulaic approach to curriculum or teaching methods, this holistic strategy links children's academic growth with their emotional wellness and social and moral development in a collaborative school culture congenial to learning.  The program is derived from the idea that when students feel supported and nurtured in school, their outlook, life skills and academic performance will improve.

Dr. Comer believes that for various reasons, many inner city children enter school "underdeveloped," lacking the personal, social and moral traits necessary for academic and life success.  He also believes that many teachers lack adequate knowledge of child development or an understanding of their students' home lives and culture, leaving them unprepared to deal appropriately with these children and their families to effectively foster their learning.

The Comer Process puts the responsibility on schools - their principals, administrators, teachers and parents - to come together to agree on a action plan for the school, with both social and academic components.  Teachers, principals and parents make decisions collaboratively, in the best interest of the students.  The Comer Process guides schools to set up a network of teams to manage the school and to deal with various facets of the social and academic needs of the school.

Under the Comer strategy, a successful school should look and feel like a community center, where parent volunteers are engaged in helping teachers and administrators to make key decisions about running the school and providing support for the school community.  With a strong recommendation for a full-time social worker on campus, the Comer Process emphasizes the need for schools to link social services.  Schools also invest in staff development and undergo regular assessments to gauge progress. According to research on the Comer Process in high poverty and high minority urban settings, this strategy has been very effective at improving student achievement when implemented conscientiously and consistently over a period of five years or more.

What you'll see in a Comer school:

• Management teams:  The school runs by collaborative decision-making and consensus.  Groups of parents, teachers and administrators meet in structured teams to handle routine administrative matters and problems in the school.  They make major decisions together.
• Emphasis on holistic child development:  In every facet of school life and organization, the Comer Process links academic success with healthy child development.  Various teams and groups meet frequently to discuss and work on specific problems with student behavior and how to remove obstacles to learning by creating a caring and nurturing school environment with close links to parents.
• Parent volunteers:  The Comer Process believes in involving parents as much as possible in the running of the school.  Parent volunteers are welcomed and serve a variety of important functions within the school.
• Social worker:  Comer schools stress the importance of child development.  In looking after the emotional well-being of all students, many of whom come from traumatic backgrounds, Comer schools have at least one social worker in place to assist the children and help manage the implementation of the Comer Process in the school environment.

Contact information:

School Development Program, Yale Child Study Center

55 College Street, New Haven, CT  06510

203-737-1020; fax/203-737-1023

http://www.schooldevelopmentprogram.org

History of the Prince George's County Comer School Development Program 

The Comer School Development Program was introduced in 10 Milliken II Elementary Schools in Prince George's County Public Schools in 1985 as their model for school improvement/school development, and with a special focus upon improving parent/family participation in schools deemed "difficult to desegregate."  Since 1986, the Comer Process has been used in other elementary and secondary schools in the county, by selection of the model by school administrators, school teams, community groups or by direction of the central office.  

In 1990, a three-year grant from the MacArthur Foundation enabled the Comer School Development Program to be implemented in 13 middle schools - a control group whose implementation of SDP and subsequent SDP effects were compared with other randomly selected PGCPS middle schools - as part of a research design, "The SDP Middle Schools Project." 

In 1994, Prince George's County Public Schools' Department of the Comer SDP and Special Programs was invited by Yale University Child Study Center to become one of its three Comer SDP Regional Professional Development and Training Centers, as well as to serve as a National Demonstration site for the School Development Program.  This effort, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation from 1994-1999 lead to the creation of designated Comer SDP Network Schools as well as Comer SDP Affiliate Schools.

Diagram of the SDP Model