Children and adolescents who enjoy healthy growth and development along six primary pathways are the students who learn well and achieve success in school and in life. But children from poorly functioning families and impoverished social networks too often find themselves without adequate preparation and support for the academic challenges that await them in kindergarten and the grades that follow. Believing that schools are uniquely situated to foster healthy development, renowned child psychiatrist Dr. James P. Comer and his colleagues at the Yale School Development Program (SDP) have dedicated 35 years to guiding students, schools, and educators toward academic success along the six developmental pathways of learning. Combining research; evidence-based best practices; essential tools for planning, data analysis, and assessment; and a generous collection of charts, tables, and graphics, this book offers educators a comprehensive and effective framework for whole school reform. In 17 lively and informative chapters, Dr. Comer and his coauthors offer a complete guide to: (1) Fostering healthy student growth and development along physical, cognitive, psychological, language, social, and ethical pathways; (2) Comprehensive school planning to optimize opportunities for child development and learning; (3) Creating a positive school climate in which all adults--teachers, parents, administrators, school staff, and community members--can help children grow and succeed; and (4) Ensuring continuous professional development and program improvement for the entire school community. This book is the first-ever published field guide to the tried, tested, and true methods used by the Comer Process to promote child development and learning. Following a foreword (Michael Fullan) and preface (Edward T. Joyner), this book is divided into three parts. Part I, Child Development = Education, presents: (1) The School Is Preventive and Promotive (James P. Comer); (2) Essential Understandings of the Yale School Development Program: A Reference Guide to the Comer Process (Michael Ben-Avie, Edward T. Joyner, and James P. Comer); (3) Schools in Society (Carmen S. Gonzalez); (4) Child Development Is the Foundation of Education (Fay E. Brown and Joanne N. Corbin); (5) Promoting Youth Leadership Development in Comer Schools (Valerie Maholmes); (6) Children Must Be Taught to Deal with Anger (The Yale Child Study Center Faculty); (7) Children with Special Needs: Special Education and the Comprehensive School Plan (Michael Ben-Avie, Virginia Arrington, Morton Frank, and Robert Raymond); and (8) Using the Pathways with Individualized Education Plans for Children with Special Needs (Nora Martin). Part II, Children Need Healthy Adults (Michael Ben-Avie), continues with: (9) Teaming and Team Building (Miriam McLaughlin, Alice Huff Hart, Everol Ennis, Fred Hernandez, and Jan Stocklinksi); (10) A Team Approach to Educational Change (J. Patrick Howley); (11) Establishing a Foundation: A Principal's View of Task and Process (Jeffrey German with J. Patrick Howley and Michael Ben-Avie); (12) It's All About Effective Relationships: Frameworks for Understanding Ourselves and Others (J. Patrick Howley); and (13) Three Guiding Principles for Interaction on Teams (J. Patrick Howley). Part III, A Time to Act, concludes with: (14) Children and Trauma (Robert A. Murphy); (15) Children During Wartime (Robert A. Murphy); and (16) Children of the World: How We Created a Full-Service School (Grace Nebb). An index is also included.