Abstract/Notes: This longitudinal quantitative study compared literacy achievement of students from second through sixth grade based on two organizational systems: graded (traditional) and nongraded (multiage) classrooms. The California Standards Test (CST) scaled and proficiency scores for English-Language Arts (ELA) were used as the study's independent variable to measure student performance. A matched control was utilized in which nongraded students were compared with graded students based on gender, ethnicity, and date of birth. Data analysis included independent samples t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and effect size. Results showed that nongraded students had a significant advantage over their graded counterparts in literacy achievement (p=0.000). Effect size for the matched group increased with length of exposure in the nongraded program from Cohen's d=0.49 to d=0.99. It is difficult to determine if significant outcomes were the result of classroom structure or instructional strategies used in the nongraded setting. However, a unique quality of this study involves the rare conditions and matched control design that allowed for variables to be controlled, which have yet to be simultaneously accounted for in multiage studies to date. Based on the results, this study suggested that nongraded education, by responding to the developmental nature of children in the classroom, may offer a viable alternative to the graded system. In nations such as Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Finland, and Canada with the highest literacy rates in the world, nongraded classrooms are common educational practice.

Language: English

Published: Los Angeles, California, 2011

Abstract/Notes: Elementary education has theoretical underpinnings based on cognitive psychology. Ideas from cognitive psychologists such as James, Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky coalesce to form constructivism (Cooper, 1993; Yager, 2000; Yilmaz, 2011). Among others, the Montessori Method (1912/1964) is an exemplar of constructivism. Currently, public education in the United States is heavily impacted by the No Child Left Behind legislation (Paige, 2006) which emphasizes high stakes academic achievement testing. Absent from the literature is an examination of the academic achievement of Montessori students in public education. This study explores the academic achievement outcomes of public school students who completed varying numbers of years in Montessori elementary education. Singer and Willett's (2003) multilevel model of change serves as the statistical tool utilized to explore the academic achievement outcomes of a first grade cohort through their elementary and secondary school careers. Accrued years in Montessori did not account for significant variance amongst the trajectories, and gender and ethnicity, when considered without the interactions with accrued years, had minimal impact. Socioeconomic status, when the variable of accrued years in Montessori was removed from the equation, was a significant predictor of reading and math achievement.

Language: English

Published: Commerce, Texas, 2014

Abstract/Notes: This study investigates differences in academic achievement and self-concept of students enrolled in a traditional public school program and a public school Montessori program. The attitudes of parents of students are also compared. The population includes 182 experimental and control kindergarten, first-, second-, and third-grade students in a Texas metropolitan school district. Academic pretest and posttest data include scores on the Bilingual Syntax Measure, Metropolitan Readiness Tests, California Achievement Tests, and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. The McDaniel-Piers Young Children's Self Concept Scale and the Parent Opinion Survey were also administered. A two-way analysis of covariance was used to analyze pretest and posttest academic achievement and self-concept scores, and to test for possible interaction between the programs and the sex variable. The pretest score was used as the covariate. The means of both parent groups were analyzed using the t test for two independent samples. The .05 level of significance was used to test each hypothesis. First-grade traditional students had significantly higher academic achievement scores than first-grade Montessori students. A significant interaction effect at the first-grade level revealed that traditional males had the highest adjusted mean score for academic achievement and Montessori males had the lowest adjusted mean score. Second-grade traditional students showed a significant increase over second-grade Montessori students in self-concept. No significant difference was found in the attitude of parents of students enrolled in both programs. Conclusions based on this investigation are that more similarities than differences are evident between the two programs, differences in academic achievement and interaction effects and sex appeared at only one grade level, differences in self-concept appeared at only one grade level, and parent attitudes are similar. Recommendations include continuation of the Montessori program evaluation and replication using a larger population, different grade levels, and different socioeconomic levels.

Language: English

Published: Denton, Texas, 1982

Abstract/Notes: This study compared the effects of multi-age classroom strategies to those of traditional classroom strategies on the academic achievement of fourth grade students in reading and math. Standardized test scores from 20 fourth-grade students in two multi-age third- and fourth-grade classrooms were compared to the scores of 20 students from 7 traditional fourth-grade classrooms. The Stanford Achievement Test (SAT), ninth edition was used as the test instrument. Scores from the students' third grade test in the 1996-97 school year were compared to their scores from the fourth grade test in reading and math by applying T-tests to the data. Analysis of the data revealed no difference in reading or math achievement between students taught in a multi-age classroom and those from a traditional classroom.

Language: English

Published: Salem, West Virginia, 1998

Language: English

ISSN: 0277-9064

Abstract/Notes: Two studies were conducted on the effects of multiage classrooms. The first study investigated verbal interaction among children of different age groups and student-teacher interaction in multiage classrooms. Existing multiage classrooms in various settings were observed and information was recorded on the ages of the children initiating and receiving each interaction, the number of children in each age group who initiated interactions to the teacher, and the number of children in each age group who were present in the classroom. Interactions were classified as dominant, submissive, or neutral. Results indicate: (1) older children tended to initiate proportionately more interactions when three ages were grouped together, but not when only two ages were grouped together; (2) children of one age did not dominate the teacher's attention; (3) interaction within age groups was high and interaction between age groups was low when three age groups were present, but not when two age groups

Language: English

Published: Arlington, Virginia: American Association of School Administrators, Feb 1980

Abstract/Notes: The study investigated the effects of school environment and methods of teaching on language skills achievement of pre – primary school pupils in Edo State. It also investigated the interaction effects of Montessori and played methods and urban and rural environments on pupils' achievement in listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. Three urban and three rural areas which were selected from two Local Government Areas (LGAs) were used for the study. Six pre - primary schools were purposively selected for the study. A total of 228 kindergartens 2 pupils intact classes were used for the study which lasted for eight weeks. The study was a pretest, posttest, quasi- experimental control group design with independent variables as methods and school location while achievement in Language Skills Achievement Test (LSAT) was the dependent variable. Descriptive statistics and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used to analyze the data obtained while the Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) was used as post-hoc test for further significance. Three research questions were answered with three hypotheses, tested at 0.05 level of significance. Results showed that the Montessori Method of teaching pre –primary pupils was more effective than the play method. Similarly, urban school pupils achieved higher than their rural counterparts. There was also a significant interaction effect of methods and school location on pupils' academic achievement in Language skills. It was therefore recommended that the Nigerian Government should adopt the Montessori Method as a dominant method of teaching pre – primary school pupils and that pre – primary school owners should provide materials adequately for teaching and learning.

Language: English

DOI: 10.31014/aior.1993.04.03.335

ISSN: 2621-5799, 2657-215X

Language: English

ISSN: 0519-0959

Language: English

Language: English