Comer's School Development Program in Prince George's County, Maryland: A theory-based evaluation

A randomized experiment of Comer's school Development Program was conducted in 23 middle schools in Prince George's County, Maryland. The school popul ation is predominantly African American, with considerable internal variati on in household socioeconomic standing. This study involved repeated measur ement with more than 12 000 students and 2 000 staff a survey of more than 1,000 parents, and extensive access to student records. It showed that Come r schools implemented some of the program's central elements better than co ntrol schools but not all or even most of them. This shortfall in program i mplementation may have been responsible for students in the experimental sc hools not changing any more than controls. Quasi-experimental analyses show ed that the program theory may be correct in many of its predictions about student changes in psychological and social outcomes, but not achievement. However, achievement gains were found in schools with a more explicit acade mic focus, suggesting that improving this focus should be as central to Com er's program theory as improving a school's social climate. Even more neede d, though, are ways to improve program implementability, the sine qua non f or student change.