Dr. Jack Gillette Named Dean of Lesley University School of Education

Dr. Jack Gillette, the former director of Professional Development and Consultation at the Comer School Development Program (SDP) at the Yale Child Study Center, was recently appointed dean of the Lesley University School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Gillette played a key role in the scale up and implementation of the SDP across the United States and in Trinidad. He managed the national leadership academies that over the years brought thousands of educators from around the United States and other countries to Yale to learn how to implement the Comer Process in their schools and districts. He also managed eight university-district partnerships including the Bay Area, Detroit, New Orleans, and San Diego.

Gillette, who began his career as a social studies teacher at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut, became the director of the Teacher Preparation and Educational Studies Program at Yale University in 2001. He established a new Master of Arts in Urban Education Studies program in partnership with the New Haven Public Schools, and redesigned the undergraduate education majors to meet NCATE standards.

“Jack has the theoretical and academic knowledge and many years of hands-on experience of applying child and adolescent development on the ground. He understands the importance of creating structures that enable kids and adults to connect,” said Dr. Comer. “Lesley University is very fortunate to have Jack bring that knowledge and experience to on-site and online educator preparation programs. His work is very important for the education field as it moves more and more into the online world.”

Dr. Jack Gillette on the Impact of Dr. Comer and the School Development Program

At the most basic level, working with the School Development Program has fundamentally altered the way I think about education in general and teaching and learning in particular. At the macro level our work at SDP–reinforced by Tony Bryk’s analysis of Chicago schools–demonstrated that schools can begin the change process in a variety of ways whether focusing on climate first, or instruction or parent/community involvement. But in every case, where schools soar and stay high achieving, initial success propelled efforts and success in other areas. So a good climate led to teacher willingness to try new instruction, which when aligned with assessments produced great results. We also saw schools make great progress in one area–such as climate–and never move to the instructional work, and they stayed stuck at the bottom levels of performance, even if that was slightly higher than when we began working with them.

In terms of teaching and learning, Jim’s relentless focus on development means that teachers I work with think about student habits and dispositions, whether the students have been fully socialized into the role of being a student. Such development is essential for students to move to very important higher order skills, and yet some progressive teachers think students who have been trained to copy can make that leap without clear and consistent supports. When I work with teachers now it is not solely focused on planning what content they need to prep but asking what kinds of experiences do their students need to be able to connect and understand a piece of content. There is so much power in having teachers use the four elements of the SDP child-centered planning process (curriculum, instruction, relationships, development) because relationships and development serve as the foundation for the instructional choices available to a teacher.

What is terrific at being at Lesley is that this is an environment where that thinking is prevalent.

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