NJ parents might not know if their 6th grader is actually performing at grade level on math (only 36% are!) - but their future college professors sure will. Today, we pass the pen to guest newsblaster Alex Kontorovich, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Rutgers University. Professor Kontorovich reached out to Wake Up Call NJ to express similar frustrations about NJ students’ math abilities, having witnessed the growing need for remedial and co-requisite classes in NJ colleges - a nice way of saying your kid never really learned high-school level material. And you now get to pay for extra college classes that earn zero credits towards their degree. Seems grade inflation does have consequences!
But Professor Kontorovich isn’t here simply to lecture us on our state’s lackluster math performance - he has TAs for that! Two years ago he took matters into his own hands, bringing a nationally-recognized summer math program to New Jersey that claims to make learning polynomials challenging and fun. We had to visit to see if this is true. And we did. And it is.
Time for the Professor to take us to school.
Students Belong in Math Corps
As a mathematics professor at Rutgers, I can't help but notice a profound disconnect in my own backyard: while our world-class faculty conduct cutting-edge research, mere blocks away fewer than 10% of New Brunswick middle and high school students demonstrate grade-level proficiency in mathematics. This gap is particularly tragic because mathematics serves as the foundation for critical thinking and problem-solving that extends far beyond numbers and equations.
When students achieve mathematical fluency – the point where skills transfer from effortful, conscious processing to automatic, intuitive understanding – they gain access to meaningful career opportunities, higher education potential, and perhaps most importantly, the analytical thinking our democratic society desperately needs for wise decision-making in the coming age of Artificial Intelligence.
A few years ago, my colleague at the University of Michigan described her transformative experience with a free summer day camp called the Math Corps, urging me to establish a branch at Rutgers. Founded in 1992 by Wayne State University mathematics professors, Math Corps has evolved into a proven educational model operating in about a dozen locations nationwide.
When I launched the Rutgers branch in 2024, I embraced the program's innovative structure centered on peer teaching: rising 7th, 8th, and 9th graders serve as campers, while carefully selected high school students work as Teaching Assistants, creating a pyramid where ten campers work with five TAs under a College Instructor's guidance. This model harnesses the research-proven effectiveness of private tutoring, while remaining extremely cost-effective.
Once the high schoolers are done teaching in the morning, they revert to being students for afternoon courses taught by mathematics professors. So high schoolers receive an excellent mathematical education as well as modest stipends to compensate for their tutoring time. Kids return summer after summer, creating a cycle where former campers eventually become TAs and role models for the next generation.
What I've witnessed through Math Corps demonstrates that educational transformation is possible when we replace systemic excuses with systematic excellence through iterative experimentation based on what actually works for kids. Operating on a fraction of traditional public school costs, the national program achieves remarkable outcomes: over 95% high school graduation rates and approximately 90% college enrollment among participants.
Now having completed my 2nd successful summer leading Math Corp at Rutgers, I know that all children can achieve excellence with proper support and high expectations while cultivating friendships, self-discipline, and confidence that extend far beyond mathematics.
