Program Overview Schools & Centers Publications Staff Profiles Keyword Search:   Comer Site Med center Site Yale Site     Comer School Development Program 55 College Street New Haven CT, 06510 (203) 737-1020 Tel. (203) 737-1023 Fax			About Comer SDP   Selected Achievements by SDP Schools: New! SDP Systemic Process impacts achievement and reduces achievement gap View report and data Read about four high achieving "veteran" Comer Districts: NYC District 13, NY; New Haven, CT; Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC; and Chicago, IL Academic Achievement in Veteran Comer Districts St. Charles Elementary School - Lee Co., VA: Awarded the "Governor's Award for Most Improved School" by the state of Virginia for gains made between the 2000-01 and 2001-02 school years. Read more about it here. Samuel Gompers Elementary School - Detroit, MI: Named as 2000-2001 Blue Ribbon School by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige. Serves 98% poverty population. 80% of students passed the 1999 fourth-grade Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test in reading and science, and 100% passed in mathematics. In 2000, they achieved the highest MEAP test scores among elementary schools in their size category in the state. Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District - Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC: A 2001 report, "Beating the Odds: A City-By-City Analysis of the Student Performance and Achievement Gaps On State Assessments," reports that the district "raised reading and math scores in grades 3-8 between 1997 and 2000, while making strides in closing achievement gaps between minority and white students." Fort Foote Elementary School - Fort Washington, MD ahd Powell's Lane School - Westbury, NY: Named as 2000-2001 Blue Ribbon School by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige. Guilford County Schools - Guilford, NC: Based on results from the 1999 Third International Mathematics and Science Benchmarking Study (TIMSS): "Guilford County Schools' students scored 27 points above the international average in mathematics and 46 points higher than the international average in science. Guilford County eighth graders scored 12 points above the U.S. average in mathematics and 19 points above the U.S. average in science." The dropout rate in Guilford County has fallen to the lowest level among large districts in the state. Norman S. Weir Elementary School - Patterson, NJ: Went from 34th to first in academic achievement among eighth-graders in 1995. Equaled or surpassed suburban schools for four consecutive years. Chicago Public Schools - Chicago, IL: According to well-respected researcher Thomas D. Cook of Northwestern University's Institute for Policy Research: "The Comer experiment is one of only a few school reform projects that targets both academic performance and behavior modification. It is rare to see both effects come about at the same time... Comer schools are now improving at faster rates in both math and reading than control schools...reports of mischievous and delinquent behaviors showed steadily declining trends relative to the controls..." Academic achievement in John C. Haines Elementary School improved drastically. The percent of students (grades 3-8) scoring at or above national norms in reading comprehension improved from 24.3% in 1996 to 70.2% in 2002. The percent of students (grades 3-8) scoring at or above national norms in math rose from 41.5% in 1996 to 82.7% in 2002. Merritt Elementary Extended School - Washington, DC: Selected by President Bush as the site from which to launch his blueprint for education reform. Test scores have risen for the past three years, with math scores in the top 30% in the country. Student attendance rates have risen to over 95%. West Mecklenburg High School - Charlotte, NC: Went from being ranked 10th out of 11 schools in the district in 1992--during which time the school had the highest number of suspensions, absences, pregnancies, retentions, dropouts, and weapons confiscated in the district-to being designated a "School of Excellence" (academic and social) in 1994-95. Academic gains included: a 75% increase in the number of students on the honor roll; a 25% increase in the number of students enrolled in advanced-level courses; an average SAT score increase of 16 points; and an increase in the percentage of African American students who said they planned to attend a 4-year college from 31% to 48%. New Haven Public Schools - New Haven, CT: Students who participated in the SDP Essentials of Literacy program improved their reading between 1.5 and 2 grade levels in a single year; special education students made similar gains, and did not lose ground as is commonly observed. McGraw Elementary School - Camden, NJ: Test scores have steadily improved in the recent decade, going from 75% of students passing standardized tests 10 years ago to nearly 90% passing today, among the best in the city. Parental involvement has risen in 10 years from about half to nearly 80% and student-discipline problems have significantly declined. Charles R. Hadley Elementary School - Miami, FL: Only Title I school in district to receive an "A" rating based on standardized test scores.
			Copyright © 2001 School Development Program, Yale Child Study Center. All rights reserved. Comments or suggestions to the site editor. Photos from the book "Child by Child: The Comer Process for Change in Education," are by Michael Jacobson-Hardy and Laura Brooks. Used by permission of Teachers College Press. Home URL: http://www.schooldevelopmentprogram.org/ Last modified: July 2004 (GM)