New study shows public Montessori students excel in reading
National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector
Transforming lives by cultivating equitable, accessible, sustainable, and humanizing public education through Montessori
A white paper from the Arizona Charter Schools Association shows that students at Montessori charter schools performed significantly better than state averages in reading and writing.
The study further found that the longer students were in Montessori programs, the better they performed.
The study was conducted after Montessori was dropped from the Arizona approved reading curriculum list, as reported in MontessoriPublic here: One voice can start a movement in Arizona. (Update 7/23/24: Arizona put Montessori back on the list!)
This new study was designed to meet the literacy program qualifications of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as required by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE). The decision to approve Montessori’s addition to the list, based on the evidence presented in the whitepaper, is pending with the Department.
Outcomes
The study compared scores on Arizona’s AzMERIT test for 24 public Montessori schools with state averages. The ELA pass rate in Montessori schools was 77%, compared to 46% state-wide. This was .46 of a standard deviation, indicating a “moderate” effect size.
Montessori students did better the longer they were in their programs. The effect size was .24 in the first two years but jumped to .57 after three or more years. Students who left Montessori programs after less than a year were indistinguishable from state averages.
Finally, controlling for demographic and programmatic differences, Montessori students scored significantly higher than what would be predicted for them given the make-up of the student body.
Authors such as Zoll, Saylor, and Feinberg (in Powerful Literacy in the Montessori Classroom) have documented how Montessori aligns with the science of reading (read more on MontessoriPublic here: Montessori and the science of reading). This study contributes to a growing body of evidence indicating that these practices actually do result in improved reading outcomes for children in public Montessori schools.
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Update 7/23/24: The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) has re-listed Montessori as an approved reading curriculum based on the results of the study described in the story! Per the ADE: The review of the Montessori Program to the Arizona Department of Education Core Reading Program List is complete. The Move On When Reading Committee has reviewed the research study provided. Based on the findings from this review, the Montessori Program will be added to the vetted Arizona Department of Education Core Reading Program List.?