A Few Articles on the Results of Montessori Education

It is important to know that anyone can use the name "Montessori" for any purpose. A person can read one book and decide to open a school and call it a Montessori school, or can take a training course and decide that he or she is ready to train teachers. Most of these people are of course trying to do their best to help children and some results are very good, but many are nothing like one expects after reading the inspiring words of Dr. Montessori and the descriptions of her schools. For this reason it is difficult to ascertain the results of Montessori education. The two articles below are excellent.

A COMPARISON OF MONTESSORI AND TRADITIONAL MIDDLE SCHOOLS: Motivation, Quality of Experience, and Social Context
by Kevin Rathunde

This study was sponsored by the North American Montessori Teachers’ Association and published in The NAMTA Journal 28:3 (Summer, 2003), pages 12-52.This is a 41 page PDF document.

 

 

 

 

OPTIMAL DEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOMES: The Social, Moral, Cognitive, and Emotional Dimensions of a Montessori Education
by Annette Haines, Kay Baker, and David Kahn

This series of articles (including a new introduction by Annette Haines, NAMTA's Director of Research) spells out optimal outcomes of Montessori education for the early childhood, elementary, and adolescent years. Haines states, "we find the possibility of an educational continuum that extends naturally along a developmental path from birth to adulthood. It is hoped that the delineation of this path within the three distinct developmental stages will enable educators to look at students and schools from a new perspective."

Sources: The NAMTA Journal 25:2, Spring, 2000; The NAMTA Journal 26:1, Winter, 2001; The NAMTA Journal 28:1, Winter 2003. This is a 36 page PDF file.