Forum to Look at Achievement Gap

Fri., May 04

Southern and the New Haven Public Schools will co-sponsor a forum May 4 to discuss the achievement gap in education.

The event, "A Conversation with Dr. James P. Comer and Dr. Edmund Gordon," is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Metropolitan Business Academy, 115 Water St., New Haven. Comer and Gordon are considered to be two of the nation's most outstanding scholars and education reformers, according to Norris Haynes and Carlos Torre, event co-chairmen.

Haynes, professor of counseling and school psychology and director of the Center for Community and School Action Research, says the speakers are likely to address topics such as defining and measuring the achievement gap; the importance of adequate child development; how school reform is important, but not a sufficient answer to the problem; and why this gap can and should be eliminated in Connecticut.

In addition, the program is expected to honor Comer and Gordon, as well as outstanding educators and students in the New Haven Public Schools for their efforts to close the achievement gap. A question-and-answer period is also scheduled.

Comer (pictured above) is the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine's Child Study Center. He founded the Comer School Development Program in 1968, designed to improve social, emotional and academic outcomes for children. He is an associate dean for student progress at the Yale School of Medicine and is the author of 10 books, including Leave No Child Behind: Preparing Today's Youth for Tomorrow's World. He served as a consultant to the Children's Television Workshop, which has produced Sesame Street, and The Electric Company. He is a member of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.

Gordon is one of the founders of Head Start and is the director emeritus of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He has written or edited 18 books and has done considerable research on those individuals who have succeeded in their education and in life despite coming from socioeconomic disadvantaged groups. He is the John M. Musser Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, at Yale University. He also serves as chairman of the Gordon Commission on the Future of Assessment in Education.

The event is free and open to the public. For further information, call (203) 668-9940, (203) 688-0028 or (203) 392-6402.