Comer Model Is the Result

¶ … Comer Model is the result of the efforts of a child psychiatrist, James Comer, during 1968. Also known as the Comer School Development Program, this model is based upon the idea that a poor child's degree of success at school is the relationship between the school and the family of the child. If this relationship is a healthy one, the child will necessarily have a greater chance of success (Goldberg, 1990).

Comer's model is then the result of a concern for the poor and the education of their children. Providing the poor with quality education would also empower them to rise above their status. Education could in this way become a tool for rising above circumstances into which the poor have been born. However, the quality of education received by poor children is interdependent among several factors, one of the most important of which is the relationship of the child and his or her family with the school. Hence the Comer Model is developed out of Comer's concern for the apparent dissolution of communal bonds within poor communities and with their educational institutions (Comer, 1980). For the psychiatrist it was thus important to reestablish these bonds through a collaborative effort between teachers, administrators, parents and children.

For this purpose, the model is aimed specifically at poor ethnic minority youth and their specific experiences at school. The aim is then to help these children to function as useful parts of their school environment and to experience this environment in predominantly positive way. To achieve this, the comer model is structured in nine components (Comer et al., 1996). These nine components are divided into groups of three: three mechanisms, three operations, and three guiding principles. The mechanisms then comprise a School Planning and Management Team; a Student and Staff Support Team, and a Parents' Team). The three operations consist of a comprehensive school plan, staff development activities, and ongoing assessment. Finally, the guiding principles are contained in a no-fault attitude toward solving problems, decision-making by consensus, and collaborative participation that does not paralyze the principal.

In terms of instruction, the Comer model is wide open to choice of specific educational materials and curriculum. Instructional strategies are thus determined by individual schools according to their own perceived pedagogical needs. The same is true for staff development and training. Teachers and parents for example can collaborate in workshops on teambuilding and collaborative teaching strategies as the need arises.

The program has proved to be successful at several schools and have spread over a wide sector of the United States' school system. Indeed, it addresses a very pressing need in the United States, as the ethnic minority poor make up a large sector of the very diverse society that is America. Improving the general school climate for them through the Comer model has proved widely successful in providing these people with the tools to make a success of their future. By a collaborative effort, parents and children alike share in the achievements encouraged by the principles of consensus, collaboration and no-fault. By providing both teachers and parents with the opportunity for community building, the program provides additional meaning to the teaching profession and parenthood. All the collaborators can then rest assured in the knowledge that their educational task has been fulfilled and done well.

A school where the principles of the Comer Model have been implemented successfully is Camdenton School. This school has incorporated an after-school program focused upon the group of children favored by the program. The principles of consensus, collaboration and no-fault are coupled with quality of care and educational products.

Consensus is clear in Sherry Comer's statement that she had no opposition when proposing and implementing the program. The school and the community backed the effort as beneficial for the children, the school and eventually for the entire community. In terms of collaboration, financial backing is provided and 200 volunteers help with the implementation and maintenance of the program. The program is focused upon developing a holistic set of skills in the children through its myriad of diverse programs.

The most important component in the program is the no-fault ideal. Of course it is not ignored when problematic behavior occurs. The way in which misdemeanors are handled however is aimed at providing the children with the opportunity to retain their dignity while correcting their behavior. The same is true of the remedial reading and language lessons offered through the program. Nobody is treated in a demeaning manner, even through language.

Children generally referred to in the education profession as "at-risk" are for example not so branded by Comer and her associates. Instead, all children are seen as being at risk, but with different needs. The after-school program is thus aimed at fulfilling needs rather than single out children who need "extra attention" because of "problematic" tendencies.