Newton Schools history, part 8: Excellence in Public Education, 1945-1965

Following World War II, Newton was known as “one of the best school systems in the country.” James Conant, president of Harvard, called Newton a lighthouse that pointed the way to excellence in public education. Community organizations worked closely with NPS. Leaders of the PTA and the Newton Teachers Federation were listed in the annual reports after the School Committee members. 

Reading

“The majority of pupils in Newton learn by what is called the “look, say, see” method. In cases where pupils do not show progress by using the auditory and visual approach, sounding and letter tracing methods are used.” 1948 NPS Annual Report 

The look, say, see method became popular in public schools in the 1940s. The method taught children to “recognize and say whole words by sight.” It was supported by educational experts dating back to Horace Mann, who believed phonics instruction was “repulsive and soul-deadening to children“. Adoption varied in Newton because principals could select the curriculum.

Autonomous Schools

A 1955 citizen-led Study of Secondary Education in Newton described each school as “an autonomous unit” under the supervision of the Superintendent. The central administration could recommend but not require certain books or teaching methods. Their role was to advise and support teachers. 

Innovation was encouraged. The Hamilton Elementary School used a Montessori-style of instruction with team teaching, self-paced study, and students organized into three-year age groups. A teacher at Bigelow began a “camping experiment”, taking her class on a three-day trip to study the science of maple syrup. The citizen study reported curricular differences led “to some confusion among parents,” especially in the junior high schools, where Warren and Bigelow offered industrial arts and business classes, while Weeks and Day offered advanced French and Algebra classes. 

The PTAs published booklets to help explain the school system. Cabot School’s The Parent Primer explained how the new progress reports replaced letter grades with written teacher summaries and ratings “in relation to that normally expected.” For example, “Enjoys group singing” or “Demonstrates self-control” could receive a “Seldom”, “At Times”, or “Almost Always” rating. 

Entering Frank Ashley Day Junior High School gave advice on selecting classes, the purpose of guidance, homework (none until 8th grade), dating, attire, and comic books, ‘the problem of comics cannot be solved by throwing them away.’ Comic books were believed to cause juvenile delinquency, and Massachusetts enacted the nation’s first comic book ban in December of 1953 (for depicting Santa Claus as a pagan).

Music

“Nearly every elementary school has an orchestra or ensemble, with the result that the junior high school orchestras and bands continue to grow in size and proficiency each year.” NPS 1946 Annual Report 

Newton had a strong musical program long before State law required musical education in 1953. Elementary schools offered a free year of individual instrument instruction and low-cost private lessons at school for the following years. Elementary and junior high school students could join the (still running) All-City Orchestra and All-City Chorus. The high schools offered dance bands to glee clubs to a symphony orchestra. In 1964, Newton High School even had a composer-in-residence, Charles Fussell.

Testing

Fourth-grade students took the Seashore Musical Test. “If a musical aptitude is indicated, a report is made to the parents so this talent may be further developed if desired.”

Students took standardized tests in math and reading and, in 3rd, 6th, 8th, and 10th grade, the Kuhlmann-Anderson IQ tests. 

High school students received letter grades plus a “personality rating” from their teachers “in terms of seriousness of purpose, industry, initiative, influence, concern for others, responsibility, and emotional stability.” 

Newton High School (NHS) student IQ scores were printed in the 1961 book, Slums and Suburbs. The author was “astonished” that so many average and below-average NHS students went on to higher education.

Instruction Commensurate with Ability

In 1952, Superintendent Gores and two teachers joined the Ford Foundation Committee that created the Advanced Placement Program (AP) “to enrich ahnd accelerate general education in the 11th through the 14th grades by providing abler students the equivalent of certain college grade work.” Newton was among the twelve high schools nationwide that piloted the AP program.

For younger students, little beyond skipping a grade was done until 1959, when an Academically Talented in Arithmetic and Science program began in 11 of the 25 elementary schools. By 1962, the program had shrunk to an advanced mathematics program in four schools: Underwood, Lincoln-Eliot, Cabot, and Ward.  

A NPS/PTA study of “the reluctant learner”, high school students who made “little or no effort to learn,” found that most were socially well-adjusted and of average intelligence. The study recommended creating a “consistent, progressively stimulating curriculum,” and exposing reluctant learners to “museums, theatres and concerts.”

Special Education

In 1954, the State passed An Act Establishing a Division of Special Education sponsored by Representative Irene Thresher, a former Newton School Committee member. The Act required the State to reimburse communities “one half of the cost of the expenses” for “special classes for the instruction of the educable mentally retarded children and for the instruction of the trainable mentally retarded children”. In 1955, Newton had 146 children in 10 special classes (1% of the student population) and was reimbursed $31,284.94 (0.73% of the $4.287 million NPS budget). 

NPS could choose to educate children with other disabilities at home or in their local school, or recommend them to a specialized school, such as the Horace Mann School for the Deaf. In 1962, NPS had 62 outside placements, 91 teachers providing home instruction, and, in regular classrooms with supports, four legally blind children and one girl with cerebral palsy using a wheelchair. 

Newton Teachers Survey

NPS sponsored a Teacher Utilization Study in 1957.  Community volunteers interviewed 157 teachers (every high school teacher and all the teachers at one middle school and three elementary schools). The study found teachers were proud to be associated with the esteemed school system, yet heavy demands outside of the classroom, such as leading after-school clubs, playground supervision, and collecting money for student savings accounts, made teaching in Newton “less attractive.” 

Teacher turnover was problematic at the High School; half of the teachers had less than three years experience. Teachers believed there was “little chance for excellent teachers to advance in salary and prestige” while remaining in active teaching.

Despite earning 5.3% more than women and having the sixth highest salary in the State, wages were a concern for men teachers:

“Some feel that they cannot afford to live in Newton despite the fact that they would prefer to do so. Others who do live in Newton believe that they and their families are at a disadvantage because of the low salaries which affect their housing, clothing, children’s summer camps and their sharing in many community activities.” 

The Newton Teachers Federation organized citywide referendums on equal pay for women teachers in 1947 and 1961. Both times, the referendum was opposed by the School Committee and failed to pass.

Traditional practices went beyond teacher pay. Girls were expected to wear dresses unless in sports or picnicking. Home economics classes gave girls guidance in “How can I make other people like me?” and “Do I know enough about silver, china, glass, and linens to buy wisely for my hope chest?” The trade (voc/tech) school was boys-only, and school days began with a reading from the Bible until 1963, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the State’s requirement unconstitutional.

Pupil Discipline

The teacher survey found pupil discipline was mentioned “by almost every teacher interviewed.” Teachers asked: “Should the education of the many be jeopardized by the few?” and stated they felt unsupported by the administration.

“Maybe it is not the child, but you. … Is your classroom one in which reward and punishment play a major role as a determinant for behavior?… this might well be root to the cause of your discipline problem.” This Thing Called Discipline, Principal Herbert Callahan

He recommended teaching the child self-control by giving them more responsibility.

NPS experimented with methods for behavioral improvement, including group therapy for junior high boys with a psychiatrist from the State Mental Health Department, a Harvard student-study on the harmful effects from “bad” movies (none for a “well-adjusted child”), teacher workshops, PTA study groups, and small classes for emotionally disturbed elementary children (after up to three years of treatment, half returned to their regular classrooms; others were “placed in a residential home”). 

A five-year project with the Judge Baker Guidance Center provided individual psychotherapy to 36 pupils who were “considered to have problems in social adjustment.” 19 had police records. Those who were behind academically received tutoring. The project found that pupils who began younger and received tutoring “were much more likely to show improvement than those who received psychotherapy only” in grades and child-teacher relationships. 

High School  

In 1959, the school was divided into six houses (named after former principals) to help faculty and students know one another better. Students participated in daily school management. The Orange Shield club “maintained neatness and order” during lunch periods; the Civic Committee supervised fire drills and assemblies. Sober searchers sought out smokers to prevent school fires. Girls were office secretaries, filing, answering telephones, and keeping attendance records; the boys’ motion picture squad ran films for classes, clubs, and City committees. 

The novel “Newton Plan,” team-teaching with lectures of up to 200 students, followed by small-group workshops, and independent study, was widely discussed in academic journals. Students also received national recognition for innovation. In 1947, Martin Karplus won first place in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. Nine years later, Reinier Beeuwkes, III, won first place again.

Next: New Math, Superintendent Charles E. Brown, and Budget Battles, 1945-1965 continued