In-Depth/Investigative Features

First published Jan. 16, 2015.

by Emily Moss

In October, NBC news published a story about soccer players in Washington State who had contracted lymphoma after playing on synthetic fields. Almost immediately, new concerns began to circulate about the safety of the material.

North community members weigh in

Senior Maddie Maloney, who plays soccer on synthetic turf at North, expressed concern about the fact that bits of “crumb rubber”—the turf’s artificial dirt made from recycled tires—can follow players inside after practices and games.

“In my four years at North, I’ve spent an incredible amount of time sitting, running, and playing on it, and it’s definitely scary to think about,” said Maloney. “Oftentimes when I come home, I find it in my shoes, my shower, and even my bed.”

She added, “I don’t know much about the actual effects it can have, but having been around it so much, I know I must be at risk, and that poses a problem for sure.”

Not all student-athletes are concerned, however. Senior Quinn Mayville, also a soccer player, noted, “The only problem I’ve had with synthetic turf is that it causes my cleats to split apart much faster than grass. I don’t worry at all about the supposed health risks.”

North athletics director Tom Giusti noted that the NBC story may be incomplete because it only features soccer players and fails to mention any football players or other athletes. According to Giusti, there have not been any notable issues related to the synthetic turf at North, except that players often carry bits of rubber inside with them.

“We would never jeopardize anyone for the sake of putting in a field,” said Giusti, adding that, “we want to make sure the health and safety of our student-athletes is our first priority.”

The long-drawn “Astroturf” dispute

The turf in question dates back to 1965, the year the owners of the Houston Astros baseball team realized it would be impossible to grow natural grass in their new indoor stadium, the Astrodome. In a desperate attempt to begin the season and make use of the facility, they turned to a new synthetic alternative. At the time, “Astroturf” was made of a thin, rug-like material.  Since then, a softer turf—which uses crumb rubber and more closely resembles natural grass—has become widely used. Its supporters claim that it provides a more durable playing surface that is easier to maintain.

Even before the recent NBC story, critics feared that synthetic turf could pose certain health hazards to players.

However, the NBC story brought new urgency to the matter, citing a soccer coach in Washington State who said she worried that carcinogens in crumb rubber could be the reason that two of her goalies had suffered from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Although no scientific studies have shown evidence that synthetic turf causes cancer, the NBC story notes that goalies have a particularly high exposure to crumb rubber because they make “constant contact with the turf.”

Guive Mirfendereski, a Newton-based founder and managing editor of www.synturf.org, said that roughly 85 percent of the players on a recent version of a list detailing soccer players with cancer played as goalies. He noted that this list remains unofficial and that the coach’s investigation has largely been conducted independently.

The debate in Newton since 2008

Aldermen Ted Hess-Mahan and Amy Sangiolo had other health risks in mind when they voted against installing synthetic turf first at South and later at North. 

In 2008, Hess-Mahan filed a report about the potential presence of lead in crumb rubber.

Hess-Mahan also said that synthetic turf can become dangerously hot in high temperatures—which in rare cases can lead to heatstroke and dehydration among players. Moreover, Hess-Mahan expressed concern that cuts and scrapes caused by synthetic turf can make players vulnerable to a skin infection called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, more commonly known as MRSA.

However, the Synthetic Turf Council claims that “MRSA and other staph infections strike due to poor hygiene, regardless of type of playing surface” and that studies conducted by the California Environmental Protection Agency and Pennsylvania State University are “in agreement” with this conclusion. The Synthetic Turf Council also cited a study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission stating that “young children are not at risk from exposure to lead in these fields.”

Although Hess-Mahan was not originally able to persuade enough of the other aldermen of the dangers of synthetic turf, he has since managed to pass an ordinance guaranteeing that “the installation of synthetic infilled turf athletic fields on city-owned property shall use sustainable, recyclable, lead-free, non-toxic products to the maximum extent feasible” and that cost should not be the “overriding factor” in deciding which material to use.

Newton Parks and Recreation commissioner Robert DeRubeis noted that synthetic turf is considerably more expensive to install than regular grass, but that it has lower maintenance costs over time because synthetic turf does not require mowing, re-sodding, or irrigation.

Joe Kacevich, who works for Shaw Sports Turf, the company that originally helped install synthetic turf at North, also noted that “all of our products undergo 16 material tests and 14 performance tests” and “must meet or exceed the safety and performance criteria of the very best natural grass fields in the world.”

Even so, Ellie Goldberg—who is a children’s environmental health and education advocate, the founder of
Healthy-Kids.Info, and a member of Green Decade Newton—said “organically-managed natural grass is the safer option.”

Kids who play on synthetic turf, Goldberg noted, often swallow bits of crumb rubber and inhale the vapors that are emitted in hot weather. However, Goldberg said that when members of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began to promote the recycling of old tires into synthetic turf infill and rubber play yard surfaces, they were heavily influenced by tire companies and failed to consider these health risks. She cited a report by the Resource Convention Challenge Scrap Tire Workgroup stating that the convention aimed to “Divert 85 percent of newly generated scrap tires to reuse, recycling or energy recovery by 2008.”

Mirfendereski also commented on the likelihood of inhaling toxins from synthetic turf, saying that studies by an organization called Environment and Human Health, Inc. (EHHI) show that the toxins in synthetic turf are volatile—meaning that under certain conditions, the turf can ooze chemicals and emit gas. Some of the emissions are more likely to occur in the initial year following the installation of synthetic turf, according to Mirfendereski, yet crumb rubber itself becomes more dangerous after four to five years because it turns to a dust that can easily enter the body and settle in the lungs.

He added that although there have been no conclusive studies regarding the dangers of synthetic turf and crumb rubber, there have been studies that identify isolated ingredients in crumb rubber—including 12 carcinogens, according to the EPA—that have been proven harmful in other contexts.

Goldberg noted that the safety recommendations from the EHHI for kids playing on synthetic turf include to “shower immediately after leaving the field, as well as changing their clothing, including their socks and shoes.” Goldberg also said that players need to wash hands before eating, that small children and dogs should stay off the turf at all times, and that families should avoid picnicking on the sidelines.

However, many student-athletes remain unaware of these guidelines. Senior Susanna Ming, who plays field hockey, said, “I don’t think many girls on the team think about the health concerns of turf. The only extra thing anybody does that we don’t do when we play on grass is shaking the pellets out of our shoes.”

Maloney similarly noted that she had never heard of the safety recommendations. “I suppose if they were enforced and people were more aware of the safety risks, we may take better care to exercise these precautions,” said Maloney. “But as of right now, I don’t believe they are enforced.”

Hess-Mahan says that while alternative infill materials—such as shredded coconut husks and acrylic-coated sand—are available, grass would not be financially feasible at North and South at this time because the fields, the subsurface, and the drainage system would all need to be replaced.

First published Nov. 10, 2014.

by Elena Schwartz

It is college season once again. Seniors feverishly scribble their Common App essays (and likely numerous supplements as well), and juniors, sophomores, and perhaps some ambitious freshmen search for ways to beef up their resumes. In this climate, service trips abroad are increasingly becoming a catch-all option for students looking for either an essay topic or volunteer hours.

In a contentious article about this country’s higher education system, former Yale University professor William Deresiewicz, who sat for a day-long stint on the Yale admissions committee in 2008, wrote of the boxes being checked by students seeking admission to elite colleges. Included among those he mentioned was “service work in distant corners of the globe.”

Deresiewicz questioned why students feel the need to go to exotic, far-off countries to do “their projects of rescue or documentation” instead of places within the U.S.

“Perhaps it’s no surprise,” he said, “when kids are trained to think of service as something they are ultimately doing for themselves—that is, for their resumes. ‘Do well by doing good,’ goes the slogan. How about just doing good?”

Certain admissions officers are equally unimpressed with such trips. On National Public Radio program “This American Life,” Rick Clark, director of undergraduate admissions at the Georgia Institute of Technology, complained of how banal many applicants’ essays about their their service trips are.

“We just call it now the mission trip essay,” said Clark. “And great to go on a mission trip, great to have a cultural experience. But inevitably, the way it reads is so predictable.”

He quipped, “You know, we flew down to somewhere in Central America. And we got off the plane. It was really hot. And we got on the bus, and 20 miles outside of the village, our bus broke down. But we got picked up by like a chicken truck and taken into town. And then, over the course of my time there, I went expecting to help others. But it was, in fact, me who was changed.”

“And even just when you first start reading that essay, you’re like, ‘oh, here it comes again,’” said Clark.

Of course, Clark’s sentiments are not universal; not all admissions officers experience the turnoff moment he described. Luigi Solla, associate dean of admissions at Wesleyan University and a former admissions officer at Brandeis University, said that he considers students’ essays about their service trips “on a case-by-case basis.”

“Usually those essays are fine or really good,” he said. “The only time I think ‘not again’ is if the essay is really just a story of what you did over the summer. Talk about yourself—that’s what’s important.”

Solla did caution students to focus on a service trip for those essays only if it profoundly affected their character development. “An essay about a service trip becomes compelling when it’s about the students. A ‘look at the people I helped’ essay tends to fall flat.”

It seems that, contrary to popular belief, service trips do not offer any identifiable leg up in college admissions. Admissions officer responses range from disinterest to outright aversion, and some students are conscious of this trend.

Senior SeungWan Kang spent a week in Guatemala this past summer on a mission trip with his church, Grace Chapel. He articulated the problem with the idea that service trips can act as a ticket to college entrance: “How can one week in Guatemala, or Africa or Haiti or wherever you go, define you? How much can you learn about a person other than that he or she has the money to go on the trip?”

And yet, students keep going. So—if stripped of advantages in the college application process—do these trips retain any intrinsic value? For some, yes they do.

Sophomore Elinor Graham spent five weeks in Armenia this past summer through a summer camp program called International Camper Exchange Program, or ICEP. Graham racked up 55 hours of community service during those weeks.

Her group’s work included both social and physical service. Participants also got the opportunity to interact with local teenagers daily.

“We planned a Fourth of July celebration and they planned an Armenia Day carnival,” said Graham. Among the Armenians and the Americans, Graham said she made “some really good friends.”

“It honestly was never about college apps or looking good on a resume,” she said. “It was just an amazing travel experience.”

Sophomore Laurel Stanley spent four weeks in Cambodia this summer with a service group called Visions Service Adventures. Stanley had traveled with Visions the previous two summers as well, doing service work in the British Virgin Islands and on an Indian reservation in Montana.

The trip began in Cambodia’s capital, Phenom Phen, where Stanley’s group spent a few days “exploring the new culture.” Buses then took the group to Battambang, where they spent the majority of the trip.
Stanley’s group worked in tandem with Salt Academy, “an amazing organization” that educates girls who have been victims of the sex trade, a major issue in Cambodia. Salt Academy girls were rescued and brought to live in the Mighty Girls home, where the organization provides them with intense therapy that uses soccer to help them cope with their difficult pasts.

Stanley herself taught English to six classes of 30 girls, “which was one of the most rewarding experiences.” Stanley also did construction for Salt Academy, participating in the building of multiple structures, and taught the Salt girls how to swim.

After a long day of work, Stanley and her peers went on nightly excursions into the local area, visiting families, the circus, and markets. In the process, Stanley learned some of the native language of Khemr.

This past summer, Stanley loved the experience of being “immersed in the culture” and appreciated the chance to “work harder than I ever had before.” For her, service trips are “a way to travel while doing what I love.”

“Personally,” said Stanley, “doing service has NOTHING to do with getting into college. The fact that people think it will help them is actually absurd because it has become so ‘mainstream’ to do service trips.”

Kang’s trip sent him and other participants to the Guatemala City dump, one of the largest garbage dumps in the world.

Kang worked with an organization called Potter’s House to serve some of 11,000 “scavengers,” people who live in the dump and sell recyclables and other materials they find there.

Kang received one weekend’s worth of training at a retreat preceding the trip. During this time, he learned about how to best assimilate into and learn from a new culture.

In addition to their work in the dump, the Grace Chapel group participants also constructed a house for a family, ran a sports clinic for the children who live in the dump, and spent time with children during Vacation Bible School, in which volunteers taught kids about the Bible and played games with them.

During the week, Kang and his group went on a prayer walk during which they visited various families in their homes and had conversations with them about their lifestyles and struggles.

Kang’s group shared their own testimonies as well, “especially in regard to our spiritual walks and experiences. This day was a highlight to a lot of people in our group, as it gave them the chance to reach out to others about their faith and gain a more intimate understanding of the lives of people from an entirely different world.”

“Why did I go on this trip?” mused Kang. “This is the question of questions, and I found myself asking it all the time.”

“I decided to go because I felt a call to serve. This was my first mission trip ever, and I took it as an opportunity to learn something more about God, about how he moves in other parts of the world and in people that I’ve never met before; I took it as a chance to serve people that are materially impoverished—but abundant in many other aspects of life—and to learn from their experiences and culture; I took it as a time where I could focus solely on serving God and being used by him in all of my capacities.”

“In a way, it was an escape,” said Kang, “but I could not have felt closer to home than by serving alongside the family of which I had become a part; I found genuine joy in my service and deep love for those around me.”

“This love is what made the trip worthwhile. It’s given me a reason to reach out to people I don’t know and value the relationships I have with the people that I do know.”

A chance to broaden one’s horizons and connect with people from across the globe, as Kang did, is all well and good. The fact remains, however, that the steep cost of these trips often inhibits all but wealthy children from participating. In many cases, the opportunity to serve is only available to those who can pay for it.

Graham’s service trip cost $5,000, as did Stanley’s originally, though she received an “alumni discount” and paid only $4,000. Kang fundraised $1,850 to go on his his trip by doing odd jobs and writing to people asking for financial support. These price tags are out of the range of what many families can afford, even if students have a regular salary.

There are options, however, for people looking to volunteer without paying exorbitant sums. Many charities and organizations are willing to support volunteers or send them abroad for little or no money, according to a CNN article. These include the Appalachian Trail Conference, which provides volunteers with food and basic accommodations in exchange for help with trail building and maintenance, and Conservation Volunteers, which lodges volunteers who work to protect habitats promote ecotourism for $100 a week.

So money need not play a role in who is able to go on service trips, although undeniably in many cases it does. And while Deresiewicz and admissions officers might call service trip essays stale and insincere, the cases of Kang, Graham, and Stanley illustrate that it is possible to have an enriching experience. Nevertheless, as Deresiewicz suggests, there might be at-home service options that are equally worthwhile.

First published May 22, 2015.

by Emily Moss

This past week, sophomores took the MCAS test. Next year at this time, it is possible that students will instead take the PARCC test, an assessment whose difficulty level has raised widespread concern in schools across the country.

A student who was selected for a field-testing of PARCC last year noted, “PARCC was far harder than any MCAS test I’ve ever taken… I don’t think it should be implemented in school systems if they do not make any changes to it.”

After administering the test for the first time this year, the literacy specialist and PARCC coordinator at Burr Elementary School said, “I hope parents will throw them [the results] out without ever telling their children… Data is only as good as the instrument you use.”

The implementation of PARCC is just one component of a larger effort to align state curricula to a set of standards known as the Common Core. Although the standards are meant to improve and equalize education, they have grown increasingly controversial since being introduced in 2010, becoming a topic of debate everywhere from Newton classrooms to White House offices.

Those who support the Common Core Standards believe that they will help provide equal educational opportunities for students across the country and will promote higher-level thinking skills.  Others strongly oppose the standards, arguing that the concept of implementing the same educational requirements across states and school systems is unrealistic and possibly even unconstitutional.  Still others feel that schools implementing the Common Core must undergo a transitional period before trying to assess the impact of the standards on students.

How have teachers in Newton adjusted their curriculum to the Common Core Standards and the PARCC test, and why have the standards become so controversial? What motivated the shift to the Common Core in the first place?

A brief history of the Common Core

According to Superintendent David Fleishman and Assistant Superintendent Mary Eich, an early move to increase rigor in American classrooms dramatically took hold in 1957 with the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik – the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. The fact that it was not an American effort immediately provoked concern in politicians and educators across the country, who saw the event as a wake-up call for the American educational system. Within months, school administrators were rushing to create so-called gifted-and-talented programs to help identify the “smartest” students in a given class, who could then attend college and become engineers and scientists. Other students were expected to be satisfied with a high school diploma.

Yet Fleishman and Eich say that the model of selecting a few “gifted” students to attend college would never work today.

“[I]n that era, you could graduate from high school and get a good job in a factory without any higher education,” said Fleishman. In contrast, he noted that “new jobs require higher skill” – particularly in a global job market – and that college enrollment has “exploded” in recent years.

That’s where the Common Core comes in.

According to the official website of the Common Core, “The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live.”  The website also stresses that the Common Core was a “state-led effort” and that the standards were “developed by building on the best state standards in the United States; examining the expectations of other high-performing countries around the world; and carefully studying the research and literature available on what students need to know and be able to do to be successful…”

The Common Core English standards emphasize a balance of literature and non-fiction reading, focusing particularly on students’ ability to make evidence-based arguments from a young age.  The math standards, meanwhile, encourage schools to teach fewer topics in greater depth and to build on student skills from one year to the next, with a consistent focus on both conceptual understanding and speed and accuracy in solving problems.

In 2009, federal officials challenged states to adopt competitive curriculum standards using Race to the Top grants as an incentive. Soon, the vast majority of U.S. states had pledged to implement the Common Core Standards in their public schools – a decision that would impact almost 100,000 schools and nearly 45 million students.

However, by 2014, three states had pulled back on their promises to adopt the Common Core Standards, and today, the standards are extremely controversial nearly everywhere.

The Debate in Newton

Michael Zilles, the President of the Newton Teachers Association, said that although teachers have not expressed “widespread dissatisfaction” about the Common Core curriculum itself – and many feel that the new elementary math curriculum and the emphasis on evidence-based arguments have had a positive impact on students – it has been difficult to implement the Common Core at such a fast rate.

“The constant need to do something new is tough on people,” said Zilles, adding that the Teachers Union did not have a say over when to implement the new curriculum or the test and that they would have preferred to do so more gradually.

Fleishman and Eich noted that one of the challenges of transitioning to the Common Core is that students are introduced to the standards at all different grade levels and that as a result, their prior knowledge may not be aligned with what the standards expect them to know.

Eich said this means that teachers have in some cases had to cover two years’ worth of material in one year – particularly, for example, on the topic of fractions for elementary school students – and that this has required “a lot of catching up” on the part of both students and teachers.

Here at North, teachers and department heads have been working hard to transition to the Common Core.

Math Department Head Nicole Conway noted that math teachers at North and South implemented the ninth grade standards in all CP, ACP, and ACP Accelerated classes at the beginning of this school year and that the standards have so far shown promising results.

For example, Conway observed that although these three course levels pursue topics in varying degrees of depth, the implementation of a single set of standards has improved “mobility” by making it easier for freshmen to move from one level to another without having to make up large amounts of work. She also noted that the standards emphasize universal skills of mathematical practice – such as perseverance and problem-solving – which remain important throughout a student’s educational career.

“We’re really passionate about that because those are the skills students are really going to carry with them,” said Conway.

English Department Head Melissa Dilworth suggested that there are both positive and negative aspects of the Common Core English Language Arts Standards. She noted that the standards emphasize close reading and evidence-based arguments – skills that have always been crucial to English education at this school.

However, Dilworth also said that not all aspects of teaching English can be measured through a set of standards. For example, Dilworth explained that the standards devote little attention to helping students relate to the works they read in school and that they fail to emphasize the importance of fostering a love of reading outside of the classroom by acknowledging the genres that students tend to read on their own.

“English is about opening your eyes and transforming as a person,” said Dilworth, “Not everything can be solved through multiple choice.” She added, “Standards are a good benchmark to help ensure that everyone’s getting access to education, but it’s also our responsibility to go further.”

The PARCC Test

Although the standards themselves have certainly provoked significant debate, Eich and Fleishman say that the PARCC test—which was administered in Newton elementary and middle schools for the first time this year—is even more controversial.

Fleishman noted that the test will likely require more critical thinking and creativity and that scores are expected to fall relative to the MCAS.

Senior Class President Nathan Buchwald, who took a pilot test of the math section of PARCC with his 503 class, said that the questions on the test were both more relevant and more challenging than those on MCAS and that he is “hesitant to say that this test should be implemented in our school” due to the difficulty level.

“It would require teachers of certain math levels to shift their curriculum to cover topics that are not normally covered,” said Buchwald. “I do not believe that teachers should be teaching to satisfy the requirements of a test.”

However, Eich and Fleishman noted that when PARCC was administered in grades K-8 this year, they “did not encourage teachers to do any special preparation for the content of the test.”

“Instead, we’re using this as an opportunity to evaluate how well we aligned our curriculum to the Common Core, and to see what our strengths and challenges are,” said Eich and Fleishman.

Even so, Eich and Fleishman say that certain outside preparation was required for the technical administration of the test, since in 13 Newton Public schools, students were expected to type their answers on computers, rather than write them on paper. “Preparing the technology for use took a lot of time on the part of the Instructional Technology Department, and classroom teachers had students do a practice test to become familiar with the layout and operating skills needed on the devices,” said Eich and Fleishman.

However, Kalpana Guttman, having coordinated the exam at Burr Elementary School, said that despite taking the practice test, students there encountered numerous problems when they took the official PARCC test on computers this year.

For example, Guttman recalled that several of the younger students burst into tears after becoming confused and frustrated over how to work the technology, and many students realized afterwards that they had mistakenly skipped entire sections of the test because the questions were not easily accessible. Even worse, she said it was almost impossible for teachers to offer a helping hand because they were not permitted to look at any part of the test.

Regardless, Guttman says she has a sense of the types of issues that students encountered based on samples of PARCC that are available online. She pointed out that students are forced to read texts and write essays in windows that are only a few inches in length, making it impossible to see the entirety of the text without scrolling up and down. In some cases, students also have to scroll to the very bottom of the page in order to see the next question, which is why many of the elementary school students missed entire texts and prompts. In addition, Guttman said that the test lacks effective software for taking notes to mark up the text—a flaw that undermines the reading strategies that teachers work to instill in their students throughout elementary school.

“I can only speculate that they [the makers of the test] were in a hurry to get this test out,” said Guttman.  “It almost seems as though they are still experimenting, and yet this test is being presented to us.”

However, Guttman said that the problems in the test are not limited to flaws in technology. She also believes that the phrasing of the questions themselves is often “so convoluted that grown-ups who take the test… cannot figure out what questions mean.”

In fact, according to Guttman, a principal in a western suburb who read the test aloud to a student as part of his individualized education plan (IEP) said that she was unable to understand many of the questions herself—despite being an adult with a PhD.

“Unless somebody sits down and takes a third or fourth grade test, they don’t get what we’re saying,” said Guttman.

Besides the problems with the test itself, Guttman expressed concern over the frequency of testing, since PARCC will be administered twice in math and twice in English every year. Although the two rounds of testing are meant to measure students’ progress over the course of the school year, Guttman says that in Newton, the tests were administered only four weeks apart this year.

She added that there has already been an “opt-out” movement in New York State in relation to the PARCC test, and that she feels something similar might be growing in Massachusetts.

“The cow doesn’t weigh more because we weigh her more often,” said Guttman. “When we have so much testing, we are forgetting to feed the children the actual learning that they need.”

Dilworth also expressed concern about PARCC, noting that she is “not so sure that more testing is the way to go.”

“I wish we could stop and do a cost/benefit analysis of PARCC rather than simply move ahead with the testing. If nothing else, we need to slow down its implementation,” said Dilworth, adding that teachers want to be deliberate and thoughtful in meeting the needs of their students.

Zilles also voiced significant concern over the fact that the PARCC test is being implemented before the state knows whether it is an accurate measure of a student’s skills and knowledge.

“I do not think the Newton Public School system should be adapting itself to a test that has not proven itself yet,” said Zilles.

He also noted that the implementation of a new standardized test poses problems for special needs students and their parents and teachers because they must adjust their individualized education plans (IEPs) and testing accommodations. Furthermore, if the state education department decides to return to MCAS later on, students will have to go through this process once again in order to re-adjust their accommodations.

“This could turn out to be an enormous amount of work,” said Zilles.

In addition, the fact that the PARCC test is subject to change from year to year forces teachers to chase a “moving target,” making it difficult to know how to adequately prepare students, according to Zilles.

Similarly, Conway said that there are many remaining uncertainties about the PARCC test at the high school level, such as when it will take effect, which grades will be tested, and whether passing the test in one or more years will be a graduation requirement. She explained that teachers have decided to focus their energy on aligning their curriculum with the standards before worrying about the test.

“We’ll make adjustments as needed,” said Conway, adding that teachers will do their best to prepare students when the time comes. “Honestly, I feel like our students are going to do great on the test.”

First published Oct. 24, 2014.

by Emily Moss

On a Saturday afternoon, children of all ages file out the doors of a large building on Wells Avenue in Newton, their minds swimming with the new concepts and problems of the day and their arms overflowing with books and supplies as they rush to meet their parents.

This building, known as the Russian School of Mathematics (RSM), is home to a private math enrichment program that claims to engage over 2400 students in Newton (primarily in grades K-10) and teaches them advanced math concepts using Russian and European teaching techniques.

Many parents—including some who are unsatisfied with the math education their children receive in school—believe that enrollment in such programs will help their children succeed in higher-level math classes and a selective college market. Yet others argue that these programs are unnecessary, that they place lower income students at a disadvantage, or that they have a negative impact on the classroom dynamic in schools.

Ralitsa Dimitrova, the principal of RSM Newton, noted that one of the things RSM emphasizes is healthy competition and that although there are many “wonderful” teachers in the public schools, the public school curriculum often does not push students to reach their full potential in mathematics.

“The fact that the kids aren’t asked to do more limits their development,” said Dimitrova.

Two students who have attended RSM for parts of high school and who are enrolled in honors math at North, sophomore Ryan Steele and another student who asked to remain anonymous, say that their parents originally made the decision to enroll them at RSM in elementary school but that over time they grew to appreciate the benefits of the program. Both students say that their experiences at RSM have given them an advantage in school.

Steele said that the teaching style at RSM is very fast-paced and that this method has been beneficial to him but that the program is a “waste of time” for kids who have trouble keeping up with the material.

A student who wished to remain anonymous noted of RSM, “You get better at math, and you’re way ahead of everyone in regular math classes at school. You feel more confident about yourself in math.”

However, the anonymous student also described the “tough love” method used by the teachers at RSM, saying that she spent about two hours completing the 70 to 150 homework problems assigned each week when she attended RSM.

“The teachers are a bit insane, and you have to deal with them,” she said. “They’re really demanding, and it can be kind be of intimidating at first when they call on you and you don’t know the answer. But you get through it.”

Dimitrova noted that active class discussion is an important aspect of the RSM curriculum and teaching style. According to RSM’s website, the program aims to give students a “solid foundation in math and logical reasoning, self-confidence, and a love of learning,” and strives to help students of all ages “understand mathematical concepts at a very high level.”

RSM also claims to help students achieve an average math SAT score of 774 by their junior year, according to the program’s website, though Dimitrova noted that this high performance is a “byproduct” of the RSM curriculum and not the focus.

According to Steele, RSM teachers try to teach certain material that students do not learn in the Newton Public Schools until considerably later. For example, advanced-level RSM students begin learning geometry proofs during fifth grade, according to Steele, whereas many honors students at North have no experience with proofs prior to their freshman year.

“By the time I got here,” said Steele, “it seemed ridiculously easy to be starting proofs again because I’d already done it for four years.”

According to Dimitrova, introducing concepts such as geometry in the curriculum earlier on helps students understand and remember the concept better, as is usually the case in teaching a spoken language.

However, it is sometimes difficult to measure exactly how prior exposure to the curriculum impacts a student’s performance in school.

Although several faculty members declined to comment for this piece, math teacher Dennis Klem noted that RSM seems to cover “many math topics prior to when the North curriculum does” but that “it does not seem to delve into these topics with the same degree of depth as the North curriculum.”

He added, “I would not say that students who attend RSM are at an advantage in their North math classes. While the students may have seen aspects of different topics prior to their peers, it is still their responsibility to ensure that they pay special attention to those aspects that they have yet to explore, and master them.”

Math teacher Audrey Prager said that last year, she was aware of RSM students in her 501 classes. She noted that she has no “direct experience” with the program and cannot compare a public school that educates students in all areas to a private math enrichment program like RSM; however, she has made several observations about the relative performance of RSM students and non-RSM students in class.

Prager said that RSM students are generally familiar with a very large number of topics in math and that although some of these students are able to successfully explain what they have learned in school and at RSM, others may not yet have “mastered” the material.

“Thinking about specific students who told me they participated in the program, I can think of some that made wonderful contributions to our math classes here,” said Prager. “We also have a number of students who don’t take RSM that make wonderful contributions.” She added, “Students that take RSM probably run the gamut and include a variety of student ability levels.”

Prager said that students who take ninth grade honors math—with or without RSM as a supplement—“appear to be well-prepared to take and succeed in a year of college calculus” by their senior year of high school.

“The first year student here may not ‘cover’ as much ground as students elsewhere, but so far it seems that the foundation laid has led to success in the four-year program here and beyond,” said Prager. She also noted that “student discovery, asking ‘why,’” and learning to explain and defend solutions both orally and in writing are all important aspects of the 501 curriculum.

Prager also said that as a teacher, she tries to create an atmosphere where students feel comfortable asking questions.

One issue that several people raised in connection with RSM is how the presence of RSM students—who have had prior exposure to key concepts—affects this atmosphere for non-RSM students.

Sophomore Emma Brown, who takes honors math but does not attend RSM, said, “When you haven’t been exposed to the curriculum, they have an advantage and you feel behind.”

“It’s a little frustrating just because it seems like everyone else is so much smarter than you,” said Brown, “but maybe if I’d taken Russian Math I’d be at that level too.”

One North parent who works as an English teacher and college counselor outside of this school but asked to remain anonymous said she believes that the presence of RSM students likely “does change the classroom dynamic” for students and teachers. This parent chose not to send her own children to RSM, though she noted that “there is a great deal of pressure in communities like Newton to do everything you can to help your children succeed.”

“The tricky thing is that if some people are doing a program like RSM, it is often hard for others not to do it for fear that their kids will be left behind,” she said.

In addition, the anonymous parent noted that students’ enrollment in academic enrichment programs can create new challenges for teachers in that teachers sometimes have little knowledge of which students do and do not attend these programs. The anonymous parent said that in her own classroom, it can be difficult to gauge whether a student’s progress is “the result of my instruction or from additional coaching or support.”

“Since I would like to teach as well as possible, having reliable information about what students are learning in the classroom is very important,” she said.

Klem, similarly, noted the importance of a teacher knowing “his or her students’ math backgrounds.”

“If the most vocal students pick up the main ideas of the concept quickly, this knowledge could give the teacher a false sense that the entire class understands the material (which may not be true),” said Klem. “Because RSM students have seen parts of concepts in advance, they may be able to jump beyond the introductory material quicker than their peers. Nevertheless, it is important that all students be equipped with the same foundation in order to move forward.”

Another North parent who works as an independent college counselor, Julie Amouyal, suggested that the presence of RSM students in school classrooms can have mixed effects on teachers and non-RSM students.

“My guess is that RSM kids potentially could have a positive influence on the class through pointing out alternative or quicker ways to approach math problems and through helping their peers inside and outside the classroom,” said Amouyal. “Another possibility, though, is that the RSM kids come across as bored or frustrated, which can be distracting and time consuming for teachers who want to keep all students engaged.”

Amouyal added that “If the kids are really all over the place” in terms of level, then “it’s hard for teachers” to maintain an appropriate pace.

For those who do enroll in RSM, there is a significant price tag—$2800 per year for high school students—although RSM does offer reduced tuition and even a few full scholarships based on family income, according to Dimitrova.

In addition, Dimitrova said that RSM opens new locations wherever there is the most demand—often in other suburbs with high-performing public school systems, such as Brookline, Lexington, Sharon, and Wellesley.

“It’s a little frustrating just because it seems like everyone else is so much smarter than you, but maybe if I’d taken Russian Math I’d be at that level, too,” said sophomore Emma Brown.

However, some people think that the already high quality of education in some suburban schools—including in Newton—actually reduces the need for private enrichment programs like RSM.

College counselor Brad MacGowan said, “I think that students have great opportunities at Newton North. I do not see why any additional classes are needed.” According to MacGowan, “We have a ‘world-class’ math department and a great, well-designed curriculum that engages students and helps them succeed.”

However, like the anonymous parent, he noted that “students and families should make their own decisions” regarding whether to enroll in private enrichment programs like RSM.

Dimitrova added that RSM does not intend to cause tension or competition with the public schools and that both institutions work with the goal of providing the best possible education to students.

“We are supplementary and are helping each other,” said Dimitrova. “We’re partners with the public schools. I hope more teachers will understand that we respect them.”