Dr. James P. Comer appointed to President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans

James P. Comer, MD, MPH

By Cynthia R. Savo 

President Barack Obama has appointed Dr. James P. Comer, the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center and the founder and director of the School Development Program, to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. Dr. Comer and the other Commission members will advise the President and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan "on ways to advance federal programs that improve educational opportunities for African Americans, increase participation of the African American community in federal agency programs, and engage stakeholders in a national dialogue on the mission."

President Obama said, "These fine public servants bring both a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their new roles. Our nation will be well-served by these men and women, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come." 

On July 26, 2012 President Barack Obama signed the Executive Order that created the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans to help accelerate national efforts to support African-American students. President Obama appointed Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, as the Commission's chair.

"I am honored that President Obama has appointed me to his Advisory Commission," said Comer. "It was my belief 50 years ago that the focus of research and intervention in African-American education should be on excellence and potentials more than deficit; and should use a holistic and public health approach. This led to my desire to improve schools and education, especially for children who have been closed out of the social and economic mainstream. I look forward to collaborating with Dr. Hrabowski and the other Commission members to provide the President and Secretary Duncan with our collective knowledge, wisdom, and experience."

Mississippi education stakeholders consider Comer SDP Model for creating quality public education

By Greg Johnson and Cynthia R. Savo

Dr. Camille Cooper introduced the Comer School Development Program model to twenty-five community leaders, educators, policy makers, and education advocates at a workshop in Jackson, Mississippi in December 2013. Participants included staff from the Mississippi Department of Education, Jackson State University, the Mississippi Association of Educators, the Mississippi Justice Center, and community organizing organizations working on education issues.

L to R: Frank Yates, Mississippi Association of Educators, Janice Harper, Nollie Jenkins Family Center,  Dr. Camille Cooper, and Betty L. Petty, Southern Echo, Inc.

The purpose of the event was to consider how the Comer model might support the goal of creating a quality, first-rate education that addresses the needs of all students in Mississippi's public schools. Southern Echo, Inc., a leadership development, education and training organization working in the African-American communities in rural Mississippi and the surrounding region, hosted the event.

Dr. Cooper, the Comer School Development Program's Director of Teaching and Learning, told workshop participants that the SDP is committed to the total development of children and adolescents by helping parents, educators, and policy makers create learning environments that support children's development along six critical pathways. "Children who develop well, learn well. Our vision is to help create a just and fair society in which all children have the support for development that will allow them to become positive, successful contributors in family, work, and civic life."

Southern Echo's Executive Director, Leroy Johnson, agrees with the principles of the Comer Model. "Introducing the Comer Model is a necessary step in combatting the arbitrary and capricious student discipline policies and practices that push students out of school and ultimately toward the schoolhouse to jailhouse pipeline that plagues our public schools, with particularly negative consequences for children of color, low wealth, or disabilities."

"The Comer Process is transformative in that it values what each of us brings to the table and utilizes each persons expertise as an equal partner to improve both our schools and communities," said Ellen Reddy, the executive director of the Nollie Jenkins Family Center in Holmes County and a public education advocate.

Beverly Brahan of the Mississippi Association of Educators said that "the Comer Model supports creating a true partnership in shared decision making with educators, parents, and community to provide a comprehensive plan to make sure that individual student needs are met, allowing them to become well-educated citizens."

Workshop participants will introduce and implement the Comer Model as a part of their education organizing work. "The Comer Process requires that community education stakeholders come together to work for the kinds of revisions identified in the model, which may not be achieved all at once, but which over a period of time can vastly improve and transform the culture and quality of education in local schools," said Helen Johnson, Southern Echo's Education Coordinator.

"I was very impressed with the dedication and commitment of the education stakeholders who participated in the workshop," said Dr. Cooper. "We look forward to exploring how the Comer School Developmental Program can support their efforts to make a high quality education a reality for all young people in Mississippi."

Greg Johnson is the Director of Communications & Donor Relations at Southern Echo, Inc. in Jackson, Mississippi.

Dr. James P. Comer tours Hartsville, SC; discusses progress

Dr. Comer also met with the board of the TEACH Foundation, the administrative arm of the PULSE initiative that oversees the funding of the Comer Process implementation in four pilot schools in Hartsville. In his presentation Dr. Comer explained that there is a connection between development and learning. "Development and learning are inextricably linked. If children develop well, they learn well. Education as an enterprise doesn't focus on development. Instead, the focus is on the input and output of information."

Dr. Comer said that the input/output model was adequate but not sufficient through the 1950s and early 1960s. "Students could quit school and find employment without an education. In today's high-tech environment, that is no longer possible. Today's schools must make it possible for all children to learn at a high level. Children who don't succeed in school are unable to earn a living. We are not facing the development issues needed to make a difference."

Dr. Comer pointed out that because the human brain doesn't fully develop until around the mid-20s, most behavioral and impulse problems are caused by immaturity and underdevelopment. Rather than punish children for such behaviors, Dr. Comer's development focused framework for school transformation supports creating a culture where adults work together to help children become more responsible for their own behavior and learning.

"We can't assume that kids who don't perform well in school are bad or dumb," Dr. Comer says. "Most are underdeveloped. If we can understand that and support their development, we can make a difference."

Dr. Comer visited Southside Early Childhood Center, Thornwell School for the Arts , and Washington Street and West Hartsville elementary schools and talked with the principals, teachers, and students. He was impressed by the way several teachers were using activities designed to support growth along the Developmental Pathways. He was also impressed with how well behaved and engaged the students were at all four schools.

As the pilot program heads toward the end of year 3, Dr. Comer believes the components are in place or are being put in place in all the schools. "The end of the third year is generally the time when the School Development Program really takes off," he says. "Most people are making the connection between development and learning."