Partnership with college helps Springfield schools

The red brick structure isn't the only thing undergoing renovation at Central High School these days. Through a partnership with Drury University, teachers and administrators are working to build a strong foundation for increased student achievement.

This fall, Central became the latest addition to the trio of "Comer Schools" partnering with Drury and utilizing the School Development Program founded by Dr. James Comer, MD.

The SDP, or Comer Process, is a school reform initiative that is driven by principles of child and adolescent development, said Loleta Sartin, Comer facilitator and instructor for Drury University. The program brings together parents, teachers, school staff, and community members, providing a framework and a common language for addressing students' personal, social and academic growth.

Jayne White, professor of education at Drury, said that the schools, Boyd/Berry Elementary, Pipkin Middle School, and Central, were selected on the basis of location. "These are the three schools geographically closest to us," she said.

Boyd/Berry Elementary was involved in a partnership with Drury two years prior to the adoption of the SDP model.

Dr. Daniel Beach, director of teacher education at Drury, initiated a program in 1994 that actually incorporated many of the same things being done at the Comer schools now, Sartin said.

In fall of 1996, White spent a semester at the Yale University Child Study Center to learn more about the Comer process. After spending time with SDP director Comer, White said she realized that the model was very similar to what Dr. Beach had already started. The SDP model offered some additional advantages, because it was "one of the most highly recognized comprehensive school reform models, and it had already been thoroughly researched," she said.

So in 1996, Boyd/Berry became the first Comer school in Springfield, and according to White, test scores have gone up markedly while discipline problems and teacher attrition have decreased.

"We've had an increase in our attendance every year, and student achievement has gone up," Boyd/Berry principal Alana Lyles said.

"There are so many factors involved, there's no way to say any one thing caused these changes," White said. "It has been the collaborative effort, and the Comer model is a big piece of that."

White said that reports from parents, teachers, students and administrators indicate the climate at Boyd/Berry has improved dramatically.

According to Lyles, a sense of teamwork among the staff has developed over the past few years, and parent involvement has increased. "There's more of a community' feeling to the school," she said.

In fall of 1998 Drury began a similar partnership with Pipkin Middle School, also utilizing the philosophy of the SDP, Sartin said.

Although White said it will take time to see extensive academic gain at the middle school level, Pipkin has already experienced decreased discipline problems and increased adult involvement.

One of the first areas of improvement sought at Central will be higher attendance rates and decreased dropout rates, White said. Another primary goal will be to provide one-on-one instructional support for students.

"We want to provide mentors and tutors in a structured manner," she said. "We want there to be more of a presence of Drury students, faculty and staff at Central High School."

Central Principal Everett Isaacs said he hopes to see an increase the number of tutors and mentors working with students at the high school.

"One of the biggest advantages will be having Drury students involved within various departments to help our students achieve academically," he said.

According to White, one of the keys to the success of the program is the involvement of all the stakeholders: students, teachers, parents and the community. "We are all working together to form a seamless web," she said. "We can be there to catch kids when they're falling."

The SDP gives the schools direction, a common language and a common goal, Sartin said.

At Boyd/Berry, Lyles said, "One thing the Comer process has given us is a common vocabulary to communicate with our students, teachers and parents."

When all stakeholders are involved and working toward the same goal, everyone benefits, White said. "It's a reciprocal relationship."

Most importantly, more students are able to succeed. "There are so many differences in students' lives," she added. "In a recent meeting with Dr. Emmett Sawyer (associate superintendent of Zone 2, which includes the three Comer schools), we discussed the need for more situational learning." Often, to meet the needs of individual students, different resources are needed. Some students have jobs or other responsibilities that make it difficult for them to receive academic assistance before and after school, so other arrangements may need to be made.

"We've done too much comparing of students at different schools," she said. "We need to take them where they're at, in their current situation."

Situational learning also involves differentiated instruction, or using various methods and activities to meet the individual needs of students.

"We need to support the whole child," Sartin said. "Dr. Comer has a saying: Children are more than a brain on a stick.' We need to think about their other needs, such as physical, mental, and social."

Drury students are helping to meet those needs while receiving an important opportunity themselves. The education students tutoring at Central are enrolled in classes at Drury where they are learning about differential instruction and situational learning, White said.

Working at the schools on a regular basis gives them the opportunity for authentic classroom experience, said Sartin. "This gives our pre-service teachers the opportunity to totally immerse themselves in a school, building relationships there."

Teachers and professors are not left out of the equation; they receive personal and professional benefits as well. "(The partnership) gets our professors into the trenches on a consistent basis," White said. "It allows us more frequent opportunities to view best practices' in the K-12 classroom."

Drury offers tuition-free classes to teachers seeking master's degrees and other continued developmentfrom Comer schools.

"Teachers also have access to the latest research and methodology," Sartin added.

According to Sartin and White, the community is a vital component of the SDP.

"We all have a stake in our schools," Sartin said. "Our community is only as good as our schools."

Community involvement can take place in a number of ways. One thing business leaders can do is to provide a place for students to hang out, White said.

"Developmentally, kids need to socialize. They need to have time to get together, and in many communities there's no place for them to go." Rather than only looking at the things young people do wrong, she said, business leaders can get together and look for ways to facilitate students' needs.

Schools need physical, emotional, and financial support, White said. "We need to improve on communicating our needs."

She said that financial need is often addressed the most, but, while important, money is not the solution to everything. "What we need to be doing more is educating regarding the needs of kids, and giving people some options, some things they can do to address those needs."

One step toward achieving this goal took place in December of 1998, when approximately 100 business leaders from the community attended a breakfast and presentation about the Comer process and the needs of kids and schools, Sartin said. "We discussed their role and their responsibility to students, schools and the community."

At the presentation, commitment cards were available for those wishing to offer financial support or to mentor or tutor a student, White said. "One of the best things business leaders, community leaders and parents can give is their time."

While money doesn't make all the difference, it is necessary for acquiring tutors and purchasing other resources, White said. And while one-time donations are helpful, she said the goal is to develop continuity, with businesses donating strategically over time. "You can't make a difference in a child overnight," she said. "It takes time."

To better utilize resources and funds, White said, "one of our specific goals is to meet with business leaders to lay out a plan of coherence."

The plan is needed to better organize all the efforts of the community, the teachers and the parents. "Sometimes it seems like we're overlapping, and it ends up being wasteful and ineffective," she said.

At Drury, the partnership with the three area schools is a growing campuswide project. Drury students from several departments are getting involved, Sartin said.

Organizations like the community service group Taking A Stand for Kids, and Students In Free Enterprise have also been making an impact on students from the Comer schools.