Waiting for a Miracle: Schools Are Not the Problem

The director of the Yale University Child Study Center and co-author of Raising Black Children attributes the deterioration of public schools to a lack of community-mindedness, family decay, and racism. 17,500 first printing. Tour.

A confused, anecdotal argument for change in America's public school system. As a leader of the School Development Program, Comer (Child Psychiatry/Yale Univ.; Maggie's American Dream, 1988, etc.) has done much to better the plight of underprivileged students (especially black children) in our public schools. With his help, the SDP has effectively raised student morale, encouraged community spirit, and standardized test scores in some of the nation's poorest regions. Unfortunately, Comer's theoretical analysis of America's educational system isn't nearly as successful as his practice. Comer identifies two ``myths'' that he blames for most of the problems: First, ``we believe that the life outcome of an individual is the result almost entirely of genetically determined intelligence and will''; second, ``whites have been successful, and Blacks have not.'' Comer doesn't persuade us that these myths are at the root of the trouble, and in fact, it's highly debatable that they are even widely held. He then tries to ``prove'' his points with anecdotal evidence and poorly defined statistics. In the end, Comer's main prescription for change, while basically sound, is hardly groundbreaking. He believes that a child's education begins at home and in the community, and that schools can only accomplish so much without the support of these two networks. Comer offers many success stories to make his point--his own story, as both a student and a professional, is the running theme throughout the book--but ultimately this falls short as a study of the problem, as a guide to improving it, and even as the thinly masked autobiography it actually is. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Comer (Raising Black Children, LJ 9/15/92) is one of the best-known experts and consultants on reforming troubled schools and serves as a prime resource for educators interested in the essential issue of how to educate children who have been left challenged by the conditions of their daily life. Comer is indeed a visionary, but here his brilliant vision emerges only after the reader has been taken through a confused jumble of personal anecdote, racial politics, and reports of school reform efforts. The author's thesis?that schools can do nothing to help African American children until our culture rejects stereotyping and understands how injustice has created caste groups?is countered by a list of impressive programs that have worked in certain schools to boost test scores, success rates, and self-confidence. While the conundrum renders the book theoretically uninteresting, it may serve as a useful source for education professors looking for a list of laudable (and proven) school reform programs focusing on parents and children.?Jessica George, Illinois State Univ. Lib., Normal
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.