Schools

Yale Researcher Wants To Expand Program Into 50 Schools

James P. Comer Is Seeking A $15 Million Grant To Help Close The Achievement Gap In Connecticut

It’s hard to imagine Dr. James P. Comer’s request to the state Board of Education coming at a more critical time.

Just minutes after Bridgeport residents pleaded unsuccessfully with the board Wednesday not to reconstitute that city’s Board of Education, Comer, a renowned Yale psychiatrist and researcher, asked the state agency for its permission to approach low-achieving school districts in Connecticut and ask them to take part in his national program designed to close the achievement gap between urban and suburban schools.

Following his 30-minute presentation, the state education board “enthusiastically” approved Comer’s request, which he said would now allow him to apply for a private, $15 million grant to undertake the project.

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Comer said he wants to get 50 under achieving elementary schools in urban districts in Connecticut involved in his School Development Program, which aims to improve educational outcomes in schools that have large populations of minority children. The goal, Comer said, is to close the achievement gap between minority students and their suburban, largely white, counterparts.

The work will include setting up his program in 50 schools and monitoring them against another 50 “control” schools - ones that have high academic performance among students – to assess their progress.

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While he said he hasn’t decided yet which schools would take part in the program, it’s hard to imagine that Bridgeport isn’t on Comer’s short list. Bridgeport’s schools are among the worst performing in the state and city leaders have argued that the school board had become ineffectual. The state’s board of education agreed and will appoint a new board.

Comer’s education reform model calls for a team approach in schools that includes administrators, teachers and parents who collaborate in a no-fault environment to develop each child’s personal, social and academic performance.

Also know as the Comer Process, Comer piloted his program in 1968 in two low performing elementary schools in New Haven that saw significant academic improvements as a result. His research has found that schools that are failing students academically are unable to bridge the social and cultural gap many poor, minority children experience between home and school.

“When too many families and communities can’t adequately prepare children for school, and too many schools are not prepared to create environments that can promote good development and learning, schools often become ineffective,” Comer told the board.

His program also has been used in hundreds of schools in more than 20 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, England, and Ireland.


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