December 2018 SDP Newsline
50th Anniversary Special Issue
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| Dr. James P. Comer |
Reflections on the SDP's 50th anniversary
By James P. Comer, MD, MPH
We designed our Yale School Development Program 50th Anniversary celebration-symposium held October 22-23, 2018 to look back on our work and experiences, learn from the process and outcomes; and, to consider how to best support the now national effort to integrate child development knowledge and academic learning. The events were also a way to say thanks to the many, many teachers, administrators, parents, students and communities who took a chance on our different way of approaching school reform and helped to demonstrate its effectiveness; and its potential for addressing a critical national need.
The joy and excitement of catching up, and the new learning experiences among invitees from across the country during the opening remembrance activities were warmly reminiscent of our SDP training sessions. This set an engaging tone for our celebration dinner of around 400 participants and for the dinner address by Tim Shriver, an early SDP Fellow and Special Olympics CEO. He placed our work and its impact in a useful and larger historical context. Linda Darling-Hammond, as symposium keynote speaker, and probably our nation's most acclaimed education researcher, used data from her just released book about the SDP, With the Whole Child in Mind, to present strong evidence that our work has been very effective.
The participants on the two responding panels represented views and experiences from critical representatives of the education enterprise-principals, teachers, community organizations, Commissioner of Education, Superintendent of Schools, deans of schools of education.Their discussions meshed theory and practice issues, challenges and hope, that were informative and powerful. But one participant observed, "despite a model with such compelling evidence, it is still subject to the winds of political change in ways that endanger its sustainability." That was a perfect observation and it underscored the reason for the theme of our event: Why Are We Still Waiting? Also, it supports our current and future strategy and effort to integrate development and academic learning into educator preparation and into place-based communities and organizations. I am grateful to the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, and Yale University for their generous support for our 50th anniversary events and to the Maurice Falk Medical Fund for supporting my work for many years.
Happy holidays and best wishes for continued success in 2019.
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Comer Network reunion rekindles connections and commitment
By Cynthia Savo
The three days of activities to celebrate and reflect on the Comer School Development Program's 50 years of work began with a welcome reception on October 21, 2018 at the Omni Hotel in New Haven. The lively event kicked off a reunion of educators from around the country who had implemented the Comer model, as well as current and former SDP faculty and staff.
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| Jan Stocklinski and Dr. Comer in 1987 |
Jan Stocklinski, who has been involved with the SDP in Prince George's County, Maryland from 1985 to 1998, suggested many times to Dr. Comer to have a reunion. "As we thought about how to celebrate the SDP's 50th anniversary, it made sense to have a reunion. We designed the first two events so that people could reconnect, reminisce, and reflect on their shared experiences and for me to acknowledge them for all their great work and commitment over the years. People were so happy to see each other and reconnect," said Dr. Comer, the SDP's founder and director.
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| Bea Fernandez and Brenda BilstadFranklin Jackson Photo | |
"Outside of Chicago, most of the nearly 100 people that participated in the reunion were there because of the relationships that Jan has nurtured over the years. She worked relentlessly to locate people who we had worked with in North Carolina, South Carolina, California, Colorado, Arizona, New York, and New Jersey," said Cynthia Savo, the SDP's coordinator of the 50th anniversary events.
"I had tried and failed to find Beatrice Fernandez, who had done wonderful work with the diverse parent community in San Diego. Jan found Bea and convinced her to come to New Haven for the reunion. Bea brought Brenda Bilstad who worked as a Comer facilitator in a San Diego middle school.
Vivian Loseth, who persuaded Dr. Comer to bring his work to Chicago when she was the executive Director of Youth Guidance, and former YG staffer Juan Alegria, organized a large and enthusiastic group of mostly former Comer principals and current and former Youth Guidance staff to participate in the reunion.
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Tim Shriver advocates "Comerizing the world" at School Development Program 50th anniversary celebration
By Cynthia R. Savo
Nearly 400 people filled the Omni Hotel Ballroom on October 22, 2018 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the School Development Program (SDP) at the Yale Child Study Center, and to honor Dr. James P. Comer for his life's work to put children's development at the center of their lives at school, at home, and in the community. Dr. Fay E. Brown, the SDP's Director of Child and Adolescent Development, served as the emcee for the celebration dinner that brought together a diverse group of people.
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Dr. James P. Comer in Dana Helak's classroom at
L.W. Beecher Museum Magnet School |
The festivities began with the premiere of a video highlighting the foundational element of the model: the importance of a developmental perspective for effectively educating children. The video was produced by the Yale School of Medicine in honor of the 50th anniversary of the program. To watch the video, click here.The invocation by Rev. Frederick Streets, the former Yale Chaplain and the pastor of the Dixwell Avenue Congregational Church, exhorted the audience to mobilize against draconian social and economic policies that most negatively impact vulnerable communities, especially children.
In his welcome remarks, Dr. Robert Alpern, Dean of the Yale School of Medicine, said that 50 years ago Dr. Comer brought the concepts of child development and public health knowledge to two New Haven elementary schools with the lowest social and academic achievement. "He applied those principles that greatly improved student development, behavior, and academic learning. In doing so he was the forerunner of creating and applying a development-centered approach to education that is at the center of modern school reform efforts today."
Mayor Toni N. Harp thanked Dr. Comer for his ground-breaking work that has "informed and transformed accepted approaches and standard practices now used district-wide in New Haven. Your sensitivity to a host of variables and resulting insights now give every child and each family of all of those children, reason for hope and positive results to repeatedly justify that hope."
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Dr. Comer and Rosa DeLauro at a
SDP Summer Policy Institute on Capitol Hill | |
Abdur Wali, a representative of Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, read a message from her in which she referred to Dr. Comer as "a dear friend and leader for our city, state, and country and an example of the excellence that must be brought to bear on our schools to fulfill our commitment to empower students' success."
Since she was elected to Congress in 1991, she has worked closely with Dr. Comer who she recognizes as "one of the first researchers to demonstrate that it is possible to improve school environments to close the achievement gap." She added that, "As a proven model, we must take this example and expand it. As the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Labor, Health, Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, DeLauro is positioned to promote a broader implementation of this child-centered, developmental approach to education.
Inextricably linked: Tim Shriver and Dr. James P. Comer
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| Tim Shriver and Dr. Comer |
From the moment that Tim Shriver joined Dr. Comer at the podium to give his keynote speech, the depth of their affection and mutual admiration for one another was apparent. Their 35-year relationship changed over time from mentor-protege to esteemed colleagues who now serve on The Aspen Institute National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development with Tim as a Co-Chair and Dr. Comer as an Honorary Co-Chair. The easy banter between them gave the audience a glimpse into the friendship of these two highly accomplished men.
After he graduated from Yale in 1981, Tim wanted a fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center so that he could study with Dr. Comer. "I told Tim that we didn't have Fellows. So, he invented the fellowship that he had with me for two years. I wasn't sure if he would make it in tough, inner-city schools. Tim was the connector. He made it immediately, and they loved him so much."
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Comer School Development Program
50th Anniversary Symposium
Why Are We Still Waiting?: The School Development Program:
Looking Back, Looking Forward
The Comer School Development Program's 50th anniversary symposium was held October 23, 2018 in the Omni Hotel Ballroom in New Haven, Connecticut.
Table of Contents
- Welcome by Linda Mayes, MD, Director, Yale Child Study Center
- Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond's keynote address, A Critical Review of the Comer School Development Program's Impact (View)
- Plenary Panel 1: A Response to Dr. Darling-Hammond (View)
- Plenary Panel 2: Developmentally Centered Education: Preparing the Future Workforce (View)
- Closing remarks by James P. Comer, MD, MPH (View)
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Symposium welcome
Linda Mayes, MD
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| Linda Mayes, MD |
Dr. Linda Mayes, the Director of the Yale Child Study Center, welcomed participants to the Comer School Development Program's 50th anniversary symposium, Why Are We Still Waiting?: The School Development Program: Looking Back, Looking Forward.
"For many of us, Jim Comer is the Child Study Center in the career that he has given us, in his wise counsel to so many young colleagues and not so young colleagues, and in his never failing moral compass. Jim grounds us and he inspires us, and thus in welcoming you on behalf of the Child Study Center, let me actually speak about Jim and all that he has given not only to all of us at every generation, but to all of the children in so many schools, their teachers, and their families."
Dr. Mayes talked about Dr. Comer's understanding of the challenge of "broadly changing how we educate new teachers, and the imperative that school teachers are not just imparting knowledge; they're imparting the lessons for a life well lived. For being a caring and hence, a productive and generative adult and for a civil society.."
Echoing what others have said during the SDP's 50th anniversary events about the need for Dr. Comer's wisdom and insight at this critical time, Dr. Mayes said that "now more than ever in our country, we need Jim's message. We need his never wavering belief in what we can do even as we stand witness to our increasingly fractured state in society.
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Keynote Address by Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond
A critical review of the Comer School Development Program's Impact
By Cynthia R. Savo
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Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond
Tom Ficklin Photo
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Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, President and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute, began her symposium keynote address on the impact of the Comer School Development Program by reading the first page of School Power, Dr. James P. Comer's 1980 book that begins with his reflections on his first day at Baldwin Elementary School in New Haven.
"The school was chaotic and noisy. Teachers and administrators raced back and forth. Teachers could not find supplies.The first week was a short one...We left for the weekend, shaken with mixed feelings of impending doom and some vague hope that all would be better next week. My denial mechanisms were operating at top form. I guess I just could not bear to admit the extent of the problem we had."
After starting with this vivid picture of the origin of the School Development Program, Dr. Darling-Hammond went on to talk about the transformation of Baldwin and King elementary schools. "More than 50% of the of the students in those schools were on government assistance. Students were chronically truant. Student behavior was disruptive and morale among the staff was very, very low. A few years later, however, the picture was very different. The schools had become peaceful, purposeful and happy environments for children and adults, welcoming to parents, supportive of staff.... They were the two highest performing schools in New Haven by 1984 and had near perfect attendance."
Dr. Darling-Hammond described the School Development Program as "basically enacting the science of learning and development. It creates a whole child framework for reform. As Tim Shriver said last night in his remarks, the science of learning has caught up with Dr. Comer who was way ahead. I'm participating with Dr. Comer and Tim Shriver on the Aspen Institute National Commission on Social, Emotional and Academic Development (SEAD). Jim is honorary co-chair. Tim and I are also co-chairs on his coattails." She also recognized symposium participant Jackie Jodl who directs the Commission.
 Perhaps the most important point Dr. Darling-Hammond made about the Comer model is that the extensive synthesis of the the body of knowledge about the science of learning and development by the National Commission's Council of Distinguished Scientists confirms what Dr. Comer said 50 years ago: that development and learning are inextricably linked. "It is not as though social emotional development is a frill that we get to on the side if we have a moment of time while we're cramming facts into kids' heads. The two are completely interrelated. We know a lot about how risks are heightened for children who experience adversity and trauma which affects us biologically. It also affects brain architecture, it affects behavior, but is reversible and supportable through strong relationships."
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Plenary Panel 1
A Response to Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond
By Cynthia R. Savo and Fay E. Brown, Ph.D.
The first symposium panel was convened to allow the panelists to respond to pivotal points made in Dr. Darling-Hammond's keynote address. The panelists were:
- Carol Birks, Ed.D., Superintendent, New Haven Public Schools
- Herman Clark, Jr., Ed.D., Former principal of Bowling Park Elementary School in Norfolk, Virginia; Professor at Regent University in Virginia Beach
- Jonathon Gillette, Ph.D., Former Dean, Lesley University Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA
- Dianna Wentzell, Ed.D., Commissioner, CT. State Dept. of Education
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| Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond |
Pulling double duty to pinch hit for Hugh Price who, due to a family emergency, was unable to attend and moderate the panel, Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond served as moderator. She engaged the panelists by asking them the following questions: 1) Where does developing the whole child stand among your strategic priorities?; and 2) What's really required in a system to sustain the SDP's work over a period of time?
She posed those questions to specific individuals, each of whom gave substantive responses. She then asked Dr. Herman Clark, Jr., who she said has "deep experience with the School Development Program," to share his story about the impact of the SDP on the school he ran in Norfolk, Virginia; and the reaction to the academic results his school achieved.
The following is Dr. Clark's response to Dr. Darling-Hammond's questions:
Good morning. Please excuse me if I become a little emotional with this, because as our keynote speaker said earlier, we have labeled schools; but people, we have labeled principals also. I want to emphasize that I was a recipient of a troubled school: low test scores, students of color, lacking resources, and a lot of disabilities. In my school system, you were considered a successful school if you were accredited or if you could pass the competency test. We only emphasize one of the pathways, and that was the cognitive. We were told by the superintendent and School Board: 'Test, test, test, academics only.' My students came from troubled homes. We were not supposed to look at their emotional stability, their physical stability, linguistic and so forth. We only looked at the cognitive.
We tried so many things. We worked hard, hard, hard, but we didn't work smart. Then when the Comer model came, initially I thought this was just another fill in. But when we were told to look at the whole child, and especially in our area, we had to look at the whole child. We had members from the Comer team to go into our classrooms, review data, analyze what was going on, interact with teachers, and then they asked teachers to take a self-assessment to see if they could find the root of the problem.
Then we began to look at the village. At first, I'm saying, 'What is the village?' I had to look at everybody my kids came in contact with. I got the coaches of the basketball team, football team, the faith-based community--all the churches and ministers--the Boy Scout and Girl Scout leaders, the PGA Civic League. We got all those people together and said we've got to see to it that our kids succeed.
All of them were working together. Then our school system hired a facilitator Lorraine Flood, to bring everything together. She was there with us, the glue that brought all of this together. She empowered the parents. We took a bus load of parents to the General Assembly in Richmond. Can you see my 'ghetto mamas and daddies' speaking at the General Assembly? They spoke with a lot of substance. They spoke at school board meetings. We had all this pulled together. The superintendent gave us permission to have our parents as substitute teachers. Now, can you imagine that all the money we saved went back into the fund? The parents just loved the idea of coming to school dressed up in the classroom.
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Plenary Panel 2
Developmentally Centered Education: Preparing the Future Workforce
By Cynthia R. Savo and Fay E. Brown, Ph.D.
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| Dr. Stephen Hegedus |
The second symposium panel, Developmentally Centered Education: Preparing the Future Workforce, focused on a critical component of Dr. James P. Comer's vision for a place-based initiative in New Haven, that would incorporate the recommendations in the final report of the Aspen Institute National Commission on Social, Emotional and Academic Development that will be released in January 2019. Stephen Hegedus, Ph.D., Dean of the school of Education at School of Education at Southern Connecticut State University, moderated the panel.
The structure for that work is the Collaborative for Developmentally Centered Education which brings together Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS), and the Comer School Development Program (SDP) to infuse knowledge of the development and learning sciences into teacher preparation and in-service professional development.
Each of the four panelists and Dr. Hegedus are connected to Dr. Comer's vision of this next phase of the School Development Program's work. The panelists are:
Kathy Russell Beck is the principal of L.W. Beecher Museum Magnet School of Sorts & Sciences, one of the four Collaborative schools in New Haven, She is a graduate of King School, where Dr. Comer and his Yale Child Study Center colleagues did their earliest work in New Haven in schools. She has worked collaboratively with the SDP since 2007, successfully implementing and embracing the Comer model and philosophy schoolwide.
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Closing remarks
James P. Comer, MD, MPH
 What a wonderful two days! It's just been remarkable for me, and I couldn't thank you all more. It's just impossible for me to describe what this means to me and I hope to many children and families. I was just listening to the last remarks and the question of how we can look at what we've said and done here, what the people here represent in terms of actions over time. It was great to end in that way with pushing it into the future and asking what we want 50 years from now.
I'd like to do just the reverse in summary and talk about my beginning and how I never planned to be a psychiatrist or a public health person or to work in schools. I had planned to become a general practitioner of medicine in my home town, and then saw my three friends on a downhill course in life and asked, 'Why? What's wrong? What's the matter?'
It was that question that led me eventually into schools. I didn't know anything about schools or education You heard the description of Baldwin School that Linda Darling-Hammond gave. It was chaotic. The only thing that we could do was to bring the key people together and try and figure out how we make something good and useful of the opportunity. Here is all of this energy that's being played out in destructive and powerful ways. How could we turn it around and make it work for everybody?
As we began to do that, the school began to change. What we did first was to create the School Planning and Management Team made up of the key people in the school. They began to work together and solve problem after problem in the school.
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Comer School Development Program
50th Anniversary Resources
Articles
- Comer began movement to educate whole child in 1968 by Ed Stannard, New Haven Register, November 26, 2018. (Read)
- Comer Method turns 50 by Markeshia Ricks, New Haven Independent, October 23, 2018 (Read)
- Comer School Development Program celebrates 50 years of work in education by Kendall Teare, Yale News, October 19, 2018 (Read)
December 2018 SDP Newsline articles
- Comer Network reunion rekindles connections and commitment (Read)
- Tim Shriver advocates "Comerizing the world" at School Development Program 50th anniversary celebration (Read)
- Keynote by Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond: A critical review of the Comer School Development Program's Impact (Read)
- Plenary Panel 1: A Response to Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond (Read)
- Plenary Panel 2: Developmentally Centered Education: Preparing the Future Workforce (Read)
- Closing remarks by James P. Comer, MD, MPH (Read)
Videos
- The Comer School Development Program, Yale School of Medicine (View)
- Dr. James P. Comer reflects on the SDP's work and impact with Dr. Norris Haynes (View)
- Tim Shriver's keynote speech at the Comer SDP's 50th anniversary celebration dinner (View)
- Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond's keynote speech at the Comer SDP's 50th anniversary symposium (View)
- Symposium Plenary Panel 1: A response to Dr. Darling-Hammond (View)
- Symposium Plenary Panel 2: Developmentally Centered Education: Preparing the Education Workforce (View)
- Dr. Comer's closing remarks (View)
Social Media
- Facebook: Includes hundreds of photos from the the Comer SDP's 50th anniversary events (View)
- YouTube: Includes the videos listed above plus interviews of members of the Comer Network about the SDP's impact on them personally and professionally (View)
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Comer SDP 50th Anniversary Book Drive
Please help us build development-focused classroom libraries in New Haven by donating a book on our Amazon wish list.
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With the Whole
Child in Mind:
Insights from
the Comer School
Development
Program
Linda Darling-HammondChanna M. Cook-HarveyLisa Flook Madelyn Gardner Hanna Melnick Published by ASCD
Linda Darling-Hammond, one of the country's foremost experts on K-12 education, and her colleagues argue persuasively for the continuing relevance of the SDP. Far too many schools still operate in a high-pressure environment that emphasizes testing and standardized curricula while ignoring the fundamental importance of personal connections that make a profound difference for students. Fifty years on, the SDP is still just as powerful as ever.
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| Michelle Adler-Morrison, LCSW |
Michelle Adler Morrison named Illinois Social Worker of the Year
By Cynthia R. Savo
Michelle Adler Morrison, the CEO for Youth Guidance, has been named the Illinois Social Worker of the Year by NASW-IL. Michelle began her career at Youth Guidance in 1991and supported implementation of the Comer model in the Chicago Public Schools.
"I came from a family where my parents met in social work school, and I have two older sisters who are social workers. My whole life I've been hearing about inequities and social justice, and that I should find something to do so that I could make a difference," says Morrison.
With more than 20 years of experience in management and program development, Michelle champions Youth Guidance's mission to help youth in under-resourced communities overcome obstacles, focus on their education and succeed in school and life. Her expertise includes child and adolescent growth and development, evidence-based approaches to addressing youth violence and trauma, resiliency, nonprofit leadership and educational reform.
Under Michelle's direction, the agency has expanded its programs and garnered national support for its work with 11,000+ youth in resilient communities in Chicago and Boston. Recently, in partnership with Thrive Chicago, Youth Guidance was selected as an Impact Award winner as part of the Obama Foundation's inaugural My Brother's Keeper Community Challenge. This prestigious award will allow Youth Guidance to further expand the signature Becoming A Man (BAM) program on Chicago's south side.
Bessie Sulton Akuamoah, LCSW, a consultant and therapist at Changing Circles Development, said of Morrison, "I nominated Michelle because I have worked with her for years and over the decades, I have seen her grow into the inspirational leader she is now. Michelle believes leading is a privilege and a responsibility, and it truly shows in the work. As a longtime counselor and mentor of youth, she never gives up on a young person. As an educator of future social workers, she inspires them to work harder, be their best to better serve our youth. If inspiration is a true measure of a leader, then Michelle is priceless. I am beyond thrilled that she will be recognized by National Association of Social Workers-Illinois for her accomplishments because the list of her good works is long and varied. As her peer and friend, I know her heart and the recognition is well deserved." To view a recent interview with Michelle about the Comer School Development Program's impact on her personally and professionally, please click here.
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Comer School Development Program Mission & Vision
Our Mission
The Comer School Development Program is committed to the total development of all children by creating learning environments that support children's physical, cognitive, psychological, language, social, and ethical development.
Our Vision
Our vision is to help create a just and fair society in which all children have the educational and personal opportunities that will allow them to become successful and satisfied participants in family and civic life.
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Comer School Development 50th Anniversary Special Issue Team
Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this SDP 50th Anniversary Special Issue including Dr. Jame P. Comer, Dr. Fay E. Brown, Dr. Camille Cooper, Jan Stocklinski, Catherine Romaine Henderson, Patrice Collins, Sidney Saint-Hillaire, Vivian Loseth, Juan Alegria, Sheila Jackson, Tom Ficklin, Franklin Jackson, Melanie Stengel, Molly McCloskey, Angela Button, Guy Ortoleva, and Veronica Resa.
Cynthia R. Savo Editor Cynthia.Savo@yale.edu
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