Remembering Patrick Daly
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On Dec. 17, 1992, Patrick Daly, the principal of P.S. 15 in Brooklyn, NY, died while going to the aid of a child. In August Patrick had come to Yale for training in the Comer Process with a group of his colleagues.
In 1993 Madeline Daly accepted the first Patrick Francis Daly Memorial Award for Excellence in Educational Leadership
awarded posthumously to her husband.
From 1993 to 2004, 79 Comer school principals have received the award. In January the SDP Newsline will feature a Patrick Daly Award recipient.
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The SDP is
now on:
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Twenty-four Years of the Comer SDP in
Prince George's County, Maryland
More than 600 people participated in the 24th Annual Prince George's County
Comer SDP Team Retreat on October 24, 2009 at Eleanor Roosevelt
High School in Greenbelt.
Dr. James P. Comer, who began working with the Prince George's County Public Schools in 1985 at the invitation of former superintendent John Murphy, addressed the group and signed copies of his latest book, What I Learned in School: Reflections on Race, Child Development, and School Reform.
 Taivion Boone, a 6th grader and school council president at Rosaryville Elementary School in Upper Marlboro, introduced Superintendent Dr. William Hite, Jr.
who gave the keynote address. As the elementary guest speaker at the
annual "State of the School System" event earlier in the month, Taivion
received a standing ovation and an invitation to introduce Dr. Hite at
the Comer SDP Team Retreat.
To watch Taivion's introduction and Dr. Hite's keynote address, click here and go to Archived Webcasts. To watch their "State of the School System" presentations, click here and go to 47:00 to hear Dr. Hite and 55:00 to hear Taivion.
The Comer SDP Team Retreat included 30 workshop sessions of
specialized training and skill development for parents, teachers,
administrators, support staff and students who serve as members of School Planning and Management Teams, Student and Staff Support Teams, Parent Teams,
Student Leadership Teams, and Central Office work teams.
The annual event is organized and coordinated by 60 volunteers who are members of the Comer SDP County-wide Steering Committee led
by Sheila Jackson, director of the district's
Department of School Improvement. Jackson, who began her involvement with the Comer Process
in Prince George's County as a parent volunteer, is now responsible for three programs: the Comer SDP and Regional
Training Center, Schools in Improvement, and Alternative
Governance Schools. She took on the Comer leadership position in Prince George's County
when Jan Stocklinski retired in 1998 after 13 years of developing and leading the Comer Process in the district.
To
watch a brief video of Dr. Comer talking about the importance and
historical significance of the 24-year implementation of the Comer
Process in the Prince George's County Public Schools, click here.
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Visit the School Development Program's new website using any of the following addresses:
www.schooldevelopmentprogram.org
www.comerprocess.org
medicine.yale.edu/childstudy/comer
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Dr. Comer Joins Board of Convenors of "Action Tank"
Dr. James P. Comer has joined the board of convenors of The Forum for Education and Democracy, "a
national education 'action tank' committed to the public, democratic role of
public education-the preparation of engaged and thoughtful
democratic citizens."
The conveners of The Forum include John Goodlad, Deborah Meier, Linda Darling-Hammond, Pedro Antonio Noguera, Sharon P. Robinson, Nancy Sizer, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Wendy D. Puriefoy, and other education leaders in the fields of school
reform, educational policy, and advocacy for equitable access to quality
schools for all. The late Ted Sizer was
a founding convenor of The Forum.
"The addition of Dr. James Comer to our board of conveners will enable us
to spotlight one of the most pressing needs in U.S. public schools today,"
said George Wood, Forum for Education and Democracy Executive Director.
"Jim brings with him 40 years of knowledge and experience working on
under-achievement in U.S.
public schools, expertise which will be invaluable to our participation in ESEA
reauthorization."
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Korean Researcher Visits Dr. Comer and Davis Street Interdistrict Magnet School in New Haven
In Hoi (Thomas) Lee, Ed.D., a senior
researcher and the director of planning and development at the Local
Educational Policy Research Institute (LEPRI) at Chungbuk National University in South Korea, came to New Haven on October 22, 2009 to meet with Dr. Comer
and the SDP faculty and to see the Comer Process is operation at a high level of implementation in a local
school.
 While researching U.S. education reform models on the
Internet, Dr. Lee learned about Dr. Comer's work. After read several books
including, Comer Schools in Action: The 3-volume Field Guide, Dr. Lee wanted to
meet with Dr. Comer to explore a possible collaboration between the School
Development Program and the Local Education Policy Research Institute at Chungbuk National University.
Dr. Lee, who received a doctorate in
education from the University of Bridgeport, began his visit in Gail DeBlasio's 6th
grade classroom at Davis Street Arts and Academic Interdistrict
Magnet School to observe
a "morning meeting." Dr. Lee also met with principal Lola Nathan and Dr. Fay E. Brown, an Associate Research Scientist at the Yale
Child Study
Center and the Director of Child and Adolescent Development at the School Development Program. Dr. Brown is overseeing implementation of the Comer Process for the SDP in the New Haven Public Schools.
Dr. Lee concluded his visit with a conversation about education, culture, change, and child and adolescent development with Dr. Comer and SDP faculty members Dr. Fay E. Brown, Camille Cooper, Cynthia Savo, and Dr. Christine Emmons. Dr. Lee talked about his children who were born in the United States and the challenges they face in their schools in Korea. As an educational researcher and a parent he would like to see Korean schools pay more attention to development and relationships.
Dr. Comer presented Dr. Lee with a copy of his latest book, What I Learned in School: Reflections on Race, Child Development, and School Reform, and Dr. Lee gave Dr. Comer and the SDP faculty handcrafted gifts from Korea.
After he returned to Korea,
Dr. Lee wrote:
The
visit to Davis School gave me such an eye opening
experience that I could see and feel the reality of SDP. Mrs. Nathan is an amazing
principal who empowers teachers, students and parents to run the real-life
world of the school. I am very appreciative to her clear explanation. Although
Dr. Comer emphasized the importance of "relationship, relationship,
relationship" which I agreed to, it was joyful and happy to see the
systemic record of an individual student and its progress check. I got an
answer at the moment on how to connect relationship to improved student
achievement."
I am
thankful to Dr. Comer for giving me this opportunity to meet and talk with him.
He is my inspiration to change children's life for better. I will continue to
study and find a way of implementing SDP into the public schools and
educational authorities in Korea.
I am lucky to find his philosophy and theory: "We [schools] help students grow and learn rather than force
them to learn without adequate
growth."
I
reported all the activities that I had done at your center to the president of
LEPRI. He is happy to hear of my report and encouraged me to make something
possible in order to save OUR kids in schools around the world. So, we may do something together with your
center in the future.
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What I Learned in School: Reflections on Race, Child Development, and School Reform
By James P. Comer, M.D., M.P.H.
What I Learned in School highlights, in one volume,
the major contributions of world-renowned scholar Dr. James P. Comer,
whose visionary work has dramatically shaped the fields of school
reform, child development, psychology, and race. This small collection
of Dr. Comer's work is beautifully arranged and includes an
introduction and engaging updates from the author. These works paint a
remarkable picture of what we've all learned so far, and what we all
must learn going forward.
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Our Mission
The 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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Please forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues and visit our YouTubeand Facebook pages.
Sincerely,
Cynthia R. Savo
Communications Director
To go fast, go alone. To go far, go together.
-African proverb
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