Prozdor's extraordinary growth over the past five years—from 175 students in 1999 to 840 today—is an established fact. But the reasons for the supplementary high school's remarkable success have been understood only at an intuitive level, until now. Excellent faculty, the diverse array of subject areas, numerous branch locations, the "non-formal" education and travel opportunities, and student socialization are all contributing factors. To quantify and clarify why Prozdor works so well, administrators have commissioned a research study that will enable them to meet two goals: to share the program's best practices with other Jewish educators and to plan future steps.

"We're hearing from people all over the country about our incredible and increasing enrollment in the past five years," says Prozdor Director Margie Berkowitz. "We're conducting this survey to better understand it ourselves."

The survey was administered to a quarter of Prozdor's 800 students by randomly selecting one class from each grade, 7–12. Questions focused on Jewish identity, family background, interest areas in Jewish studies and intensity of motivation. Results are being analyzed and will be disseminated later this spring.

According to Educational Child Psychologist Debbie Cohen, the NETA researcher and Hebrew University doctoral candidate who conducted the survey, they hope the results will counter the trend in the Jewish media to focus on the decline in Jewish teen identity. "If the results confirm our hypotheses, they will reveal positive numbers that no one knew about previously," she says. "They would be interesting for anyone in Jewish education."

In the meantime, Prozdor students continue to share their enthusiasm for the program with their friends and anyone else who will listen. The interest among Greater Boston area teens has been so great, in fact, that halfway through this school year, before the official recruitment season for next year had begun, teens were already requesting to enroll—right away.

"The Prozdor is now a place where any Jewish teen can feel comfortable, and it's cool to be here," says Berkowitz. "The program taps into the greater Jewish renaissance."

For more information about the Prozdor supplementary high school program and the survey, contact Margie Berkowitz at 617-559-8802 or mberkowitz@hebrewcollege.edu.

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