Comer Report

In 1993 Maidstone Intermediate school embarked on a systems management methodology to operate the school under the Corner School Development Process. Seven years later I was fortunate enough to win the Wellington Regional Primary Principals Ass. Study Award for 2000 and was given the opportunity to meet with Comer school educators in Washington and to be involved in the Comer training.

The Dr James Comer School development Programe is more just another theory about how schools should be organised. It is a success story that is being played out in many schools in the United States. "It take a whole village to educate a child". You will have heard this many times. This philosophy goes to the heart on the Comer School Development Process (SDP). In the Comer schools the child is at the heart of the educational process. Nothing new in that I hear you say. But in the Comer process the child is not there alone. Around each child are significant adults in the child's life - in school, at home and in the community. These adults are organised in such a way that they work together to nurture and support the child's total development.

It's Dr. Comers belief that the child's attachment and bonding to adult caretakers is highly important factor in the child's academic success. In turn, these caretakers are in a position to greatly influence the child's development. What this means in actual practice is the teachers, parents, principal, Board of Trustees, support staff, community people all have say in the development of a child.

Instant success? Hardly. It took a great deal of time, three to five years, patience, insight and hard work to bring about the necessary changes in the school. It takes co-operation and consensus. But it does work and Maidstone is living proof that it works.

How it started. The SDP model was established in 1968 in two primary schools in New Haven Connecticut, as a joint effort between Yale University Child Study Centre (of which Dr. Comer is the founder) and the New Have Public Schools. The two schools were the lowest achieving in the city. There were serious attending problems and disheartening relationship problems among and between staff, students and parents. Staff morale was low and parents were distrustful of the schools.

To correct these problems, the SDP staff instituted a management and organisational plan at the two schools. This plan - the blue print for SDP schools elsewhere - is based on existing knowledge of child development and relationship issues.

Central to the plan is the belief that when principles of the social and behavioural sciences are applied to all aspects of the school programe, the school climate will improve. This improvement significantly effects student development and in turn academic success.

Nine Components There are nine basic components of SDP, which bring together in a systematic and co-ordinated way the adult caretakers in children lives. The nine components are made of three guiding principles, from which spring three mechanisms and three operations.

The guiding principles are self-explanatory: "no fault," "consensus decision making," and "collaboration."

The mechanisms include "the parents team," which involve parents at all levels of the school activity: The School Planning and Management Team (SPMT) and the student and Staff Support Team (SSST), which prevents problems by addressing school wide issues and deals with individual student cases.

The three operatives are a Comprehensive School Plan, which systematically addresses academic achievement goals, social climate goals and public relations goals; Staff Development, which is created by needs identified by the Comprehensive School Plan; and Assessment and Modification, which creates new information and identifies new opportunities for change.

A need for Change Dr. Comer believes times have changes and for that reason schools must change too. How many times have we heard that yet by and large little has changed. They've not responded to the demographic, technological and social changes that have had such an impact on daily life. However, even if educators are trained in child development theory, there is rarely a management structure in place that will enable the educators to collaborate closely in solving problems.

It's difficult if not impossible to single out any one key success in the programe that has so many things going for it. But certainly one vital ingredient is that it plays from strength - the strength of all the caring adults who watch over and prescribe for children. The end result: school becomes a better place for students and a better place for teachers.

Peter Norton
Principal Maidstone Intermediate