Montessori Preschool Elevates and Equalizes Child Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Quality preschool programs that develop the whole child through age-appropriate socioemotional and cognitive skill-building hold promise for significantly improving child outcomes. However, preschool programs tend to either be teacher-led and didactic, or else to lack academic content. One preschool model that involves both child-directed, freely chosen activity and academic content is Montessori. Here we report a longitudinal study that took advantage of randomized lottery-based admission to two public Montessori magnet schools in a high-poverty American city. The final sample included 141 children, 70 in Montessori and 71 in other schools, most of whom were tested 4 times over 3 years, from the first semester to the end of preschool (ages 3–6), on a variety of cognitive and socio-emotional measures. Montessori preschool elevated children’s outcomes in several ways. Although not different at the first test point, over time the Montessori children fared better on measures of academic achievement, social understanding, and mastery orientation, and they also reported relatively more liking of scholastic tasks. They also scored higher on executive function when they were 4. In addition to elevating overall performance on these measures, Montessori preschool also equalized outcomes among subgroups that typically have unequal outcomes. First, the difference in academic achievement between lower income Montessori and higher income conventionally schooled children was smaller at each time point, and was not (statistically speaking) significantly different at the end of the study. Second, defying the typical finding that executive function predicts academic achievement, in Montessori classrooms children with lower executive function scored as well on academic achievement as those with higher executive function. This suggests that Montessori preschool has potential to elevate and equalize important outcomes, and a larger study of public Montessori preschools is warranted.

Comparison of Sudoku Solving Skills of Preschool Children Enrolled in the Montessori Approach and the National Education Programs Yıldız Güven1, Cihat Gültekin1, A. Beyzanur Dedeoğlu1

“…Different educational approaches are implemented in preschool education institutions to create favorable conditions that will contribute to the holistic development of children. All these approaches aim to achieve maximum benefit for the child's development and education (Koksal Aksoy & Oguz, 2006;Lillard, Heise, Richey, Tong, Hart, & Bray, 2017). Children's education is supported by different approaches that are widespread around the world.…”

The Montessori Model and Creativity

“…While these studies provided support for the notion that Montessori increases creativity more than traditional education does, a recent evaluation came to a different conclusion. Lillard et al (2017) conducted a 3-year longitudinal study with a cohort of students, beginning in preschool. In the study, researchers measured numerous aspects of academic, social, and cognitive development, including creativity.…”

“…If selection bias is not accounted for, the higher levels of creativity exhibited by Montessori students on the final EPoC score may simply be because their parents were more involved, not because they participated in Montessori education. Unlike some other studies that examined the effects of Montessori education (Lillard & Else-Quest, 2006;Lillard et al, 2017), we were not able to use a randomized lottery to account for selection bias. Rather, we hoped to decrease the chances of selection bias by selecting a school district that did not allow parents to choose between public Montessori education and traditional preschool: Montessori education was the only public option.…”

L’essor actuel de la pédagogie Montessori dans l’école maternelle publique française

“…C'est le cas des études visant à mesurer son impact, notamment dans les établissements publics. Dans le prolongement d'études américaines récentes 5 , une recherche est actuellement en cours en France. Il s'agit de la recherche COGMONT engagée par l'Institut des Sciences cognitives de l'Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1.…”