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Comer SDP logo
 SDP Newsline
April 2010 
 The School Development Program is
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Patrick Daly Memorial Award Recipients Reflect on the Impact of the Comer Process 
Comer SDP logoOn Dec. 17, 1992, Patrick Francis Daly, the principal of P.S. 15 in Brooklyn, NY, died while going to the aid of a child. Several months before, Patrick had come to Yale with a group of his colleagues for training in the Comer Process.

In 1993 Madeline Daly accepted the first Patrick Francis Daly Memorial Award for Excellence in Educational Leadershipgiven
posthumously to her husband by Yale University.

From 1993 to 2004, seventy-nine Comer school principals received the award. This issue of the SDP Newsline features five Patrick Daly Award recipients and their reflections on impact of the Comer Process on them personally and professionally. They are: Dr. Donna C. Peters, superintendent of the Montgomery County Schools in North Carolina; Joan Dameron Crisler, a managing director of CLASS Leadership Development in Chicago; Gary Bartee, principal of North Chevy Chase Elementary School in Montgomery County, Maryland; Malcolm Adler, interim principal of J. Harvey Rodgers School in Glassboro, New Jersey; and William Ryan, principal of River Hill High School in Howard County, Maryland.
Donna C. Peters, Ph.D.
Donna PetersDr. Donna C. Peters received the Patrick Daly Memorial Award  for Excellence in Educational Leadership in 1998 for her outstanding leadership of McLeansville Middle School in Guilford County, North Carolina. Donna also served as the principal of Guilford Middle School in Greensboro.

Donna is currently the superintendent of the Montgomery Public Schoolsin North Carolina. Donna C. Peters, superintendent of Montgomery County Schools. Prior to that, she served as superintendent of Rutherford County Schools in Forest City.

She was named the 2010 A. Craig Phillips North Carolina Superintendent of the Year, given jointly by the North Carolina Association of School Administrators (NCASA) and the North Carolina School Boards Association. Peters has been superintendent of Montgomery County Schools since 2006. The judges said Donna's work has greatly affected student achievement. The school district is recognized at the state level for participation as a pilot for the North Carolina Virtual Public High School.

Reflections on the Comer Process
Dr. Comer's ideas have had a tremendous influence on me as a leader.  Fortunately, I was introduced to the School Development Program very early in my first principalship. The philosophy and processes fit me like a glove from the beginning. Having had some site-based management training, I knew that I wanted to lead differently from those using the more predominant leadership models of the time. However, it was not clear to me exactly what a preferred model would look like until I was introduced to the Comer Process. It immediately became the governance model I would use through two principalships and the foundation for how I have led as an assistant superintendent and superintendent. 
 
As a result of my Comer training, the child-centered approach and emphasis on relationships have been central to my leadership practice. Making all decisions in the best interest of children and keeping children at the center when making decisions are ideals from the Comer Process that are a part of who I am as a leader now. In addition, the three guiding principles of collaboration, no-fault, and consensus are the way I do business. If it were not for Dr. Comer and the School Development model, I hope I would been about the right things. However, I am sure I would have lacked the clarity needed to confidently lead this way. Although a lot of the leadership literature now speaks to these principles in one way or another, Dr. Comer's work provided the model and roadmap for how to make it all work in a school. As a new principal, I cannot tell you how much that helped me to lead effectively.
 
The three guiding principles--collaboration, no fault, and consensus--have been the most useful. From then until now, I have never called for a vote with any group or team with whom I have worked. We always use consensus to make decisions, thus no real winners or losers. In addition, I strongly believe in working in teams and sharing decision making. Lastly, I try real hard to not blame and discourage challenges but to put problems on the table and approach them in a way that we seek and find solutions in the best interest of students.   
 
Honestly, McLeansville Middle School was transformed through the Comer Process, and I believe strongly that if you asked our faculty members the same question you would receive a similar answer from them, even after all these years. The faculty actually resisted adopting the model initially, and I would only sign on with consensus from the faculty. Finally, after a 1 1/2 hour meeting, they agreed to adopt the model. Their concern was the time involved in becoming a part of decision making. Some fear of shared responsibility may have been involved as well. After all, it had been quite a long time of blaming the leader for problems in the school.

What happened in the end is McLeansville Middle School implemented the model quite well, and the school progressed in ways that surprised many. The school had been one where achievement was low, teachers and staff seemed more at the center than the students, and apathy was high. Through the Comer Process, including strong teams working hard and communicating well in the best interest of children, teachers becoming more student-centered and developing lesson plans around the six Developmental  Pathways, and guiding principles being alluded to constantly and followed consistently, we became a very different school. Teachers were trying to get transfers to our school, which had never happened before. Achievement increased significantly, surpassing expectations of many in the school system. The culture of the school was positive, child-centered, and productive. The Comer Process made it all happen. 

 
As a building leader the Comer Process grounded and focused me in a process that led to significant school improvement. Without the model, this new principal would not have had a clue where to start in the school improvement process.  For providing me with that process and for all Dr. Comer has contributed and done for so many years on behalf of children and educators, I am most grateful.
Joan Dameron Crisler
Comer SDP logoIn 1998 Joan Dameron Crisler received the Patrick Francis Daly Memorial Award in recognition of her 20 years of outstanding leadership of Arthur Dixon Elementary School on the South Side of Chicago. While she retired from the principalship, she has not retired "from her first love-teaching, mentoring and coaching." 

Joan is now a Managing Director with CLASS Leadership Development, the professional development arm of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association. In that capacity, she is responsible for developing and facilitating the Principal Eligibility Institute, the Master Principal Symposium, and the Intensive School Support Program. Joan was also a consultant for the provocative Nomadic Pictures production, The Principal Story, which was broadcast on PBS in the Fall of 2009.

Reflections on the Comer Process
My involvement with the Comer School Development process was certainly instrumental in inspiring and guiding me to take my leadership as a school principal to a very high level. For example, the training that I received relative to the Developmental Pathways and brain-based learning helped me to develop a framework around which we built an innovative and successful school instructional program.

The SDP process taught me how empowering and sharing leadership and decision making with teachers, students, and parents could only strengthen and enhance my role as principal. And finally, having as our mantra "all decisions in the best interest of children" was a constant reminder of our true mission and values as we remained focused on creating and maintaining a school culture and climate that was always nurturing, supportive, and child-centered.
Gary B. Bartee
Gary BarteeIn 2000 Gary B. Bartee received the Patrick Francis Daly  Memorial Award for his outstanding leadership of Ardmore Elementary School in Landover in Prince George's County, Maryland. Gary is currently the principal of North Chevy Chase Elementary School in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Reflection on the Comer Process
Over the last 14 years I've served as a principal in Prince George's County Public Schools, New York City Public Schools, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and Montgomery County Public Schools. In each district my experiences have also included opportunities to participate at the executive leadership level regarding decisions that impact the larger system.
 
The impact of the School Development Program is significant in my life and still encompasses a great deal of my leadership style. The most critical element of the SDP for me is the emphasis and processes for building and sustaining relationships between and among staff, students, parents, and the community.  This has served me well in developing a culture that not only focuses on maximizing potential of one child at a time, but also takes serious the charge, as parents, staff, and leadership to build our capacity for the benefit of the children entrusted to our care.

When we look at a child, we never limit ourselves to their cognitive-intellectual development but always consider the whole child as we identify their strengths and their opportunities for improvement. As a result of this culture we have created an atmosphere of both honest and transparent reflections that help us engage in a process of continuous improvement.

Comer SDP logoMalcolm Adler
Malcolm Adler received the Patrick Francis Daly Memorial Award in 2000 for his outstanding leadership of Washington School in Camden, New Jersey. He is currently the interim principal of J. Harvey Rodgers Schoolin Glassboro, New Jersey.

Reflections on the Comer Process
The School Development Program has had a profound impact upon me professionally and personally. Though we stopped receiving professional development in the Camden school district, that did not stop the core of staff at Washington School from practicing the principles and elements of what we learned. The entire process resulted in our school reaching high levels of achievement. Washington School was one of only twenty-five schools in New Jersey selected as a Governor's School of Excellence, and we achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) three years in a row. Everything we learned from Jan Stocklinski, the faculty of the School Development Program at Yale, as well as the retreats in Atlantic City, had an impact on all of us at Washington School.  
 
Since retiring from the Camden Public Schools, I was selected recently to serve the Glassboro, New Jersey Schools as an interim principal. I find myself practicing the principles of the SDP in a natural way. I am very grateful to everyone who had some part in sharing the principles of the School Development Program with me. It certainly has made me a better person today.
William Ryan
Comer SDP logo
William Ryan received the Patrick Daly Memorial Award in    2000 for his outstanding leadership of High Point High School in Beltsville, Maryland, the second Comer school he led as a principal in Prince George's County. From 1994 to 1998 he served as the principal of Eisenhower Middle School in Laurel.
 
William is the principal of River Hill High School in Howard County, Maryland. In the past four years under his leadership, River Hill has been named a State and National Blue Ribbon School, a Maryland Green School, a Maryland School of Character, and was named recently by Newsweek as one of the top high schools in the United States. In 2009, the Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) selected William as High School Principal of the Year.  

Reflections on the Comer Process
Since the early 1990s, when I went to my first Comer Process training, I have worked hard in each of my schools to create a collaborative environment that meets the developmental needs of our students. The Comer Process has been the foundation of everything that I have done and it has lead to the success of our staff and most importantly of our students.
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

WILIS cover
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.

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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Sincerely,

Cynthia R. Savo
Communications Director

To go fast, go alone. To go far, go together.
                                        - African proverb