Montessori Schools Foster Social and Academic Skills, Researchers Report in Science

One of the first studies to scientifically test the impact of Montessori education suggests that Montessori schools can foster social and academic skills that are equal or superior to those in certain other types of schools, the authors report in the 29 September 2006 issue of the journal Science, published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.

Montessori education takes a different approach from the traditional by employing multi- age classrooms, student-chosen work in long time blocks, the absence of grades and tests and a special set of educational materials.

Angeline Lillard of the University of Virginia and Nicole Else-Quest of the University of Wisconsin, Madison studied two groups of five- and 12-year-old students in Milwaukee, Wis. The results indicated that by the end of kindergarten, the Montessori children performed better on reading and math tests, as measured using the Woodcock-Johnson Test Battery that assesses letter-word identification, word attack and applied math problems.

Montessori students also engaged in more positive interaction on the playground and showed more advanced social cognition and executive control. They also demonstrated more concern with fairness and justice.

The Montessori 12-year-olds wrote more creative and sophisticated narratives, performed better on a test of social skills, and reported feeling a stronger sense of community at their schools, the authors said.

"Inner-city children who attended a well-implemented Montessori program were found to have social outcomes that were superior to those of children attending traditional schools," said Lillard."And they had academic outcomes that were at least as good on all measures, and on several measures were better," she added.

The parents of the students in the study had average incomes ranging from $20,000 to $50,000 annually. All parents entered their children in the school district's random lottery for the Montessori school. The Montessori group attended a public, inner-city, traditional Montessori school. The control group attended another school because they were not selected in the district lottery.

Lillard was drawn to study Montessori education by its close alignment with research on learning."I decided to do a study to see if it actually makes a difference," Lillard said. Usually parents are the major influence in a child’s social skills but this research shows Montessori education fosters improved social and academic skills, Lillard explained.

Funding was provided by the Jacobs and Cantus Foundations and sabbatical fellowships from the Cattell Foundation and the University of Virginia.

Tunisia Riley

29 September 2006