Abstract/Notes: While students are receiving a high-quality education within the classroom, some students face difficulty performing adequately on assessments. These students typically receive intervention support to assist in increasing their skill deficits. However, many schools are unaware of the different approaches they can implement within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports framework. While utilizing a standard protocol has been the preferred method, many schools are currently implementing the problem-solving approach because it targets one skill the student is struggling with. Little research has been conducted comparing or combining the two approaches leading schools to be clueless about which one will provide more positive results. A synthesis of articles implementing one or both approaches was conducted to determine which approach would work best in a Montessori school. Results showed an individualized approach might assist students more based on higher effect sizes. However, some researchers who compared the two approaches indicate both approaches are comparable in yielding positive results. To implement interventions effectively, educators must use an evidence-based intervention that’s explicit and structured, screen and monitor progress to make informed decisions, and implement the intervention with fidelity.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2023

Abstract/Notes: Within the realm of elementary public schools, several pedagogical models of early childhood education are practiced in the United States (Lillard, 2005). The constructivist approach to early childhood education is illustrative of best practices based on current theory. One model of constructivist early childhood education is the Montessori Method founded in the early twentieth century by Maria Montessori, an Italian physician (Montessori, 1912/1964). Though the Montessori Method is aligned with research-based best practices espoused by constructivism, there are relatively few public Montessori schools currently in the United States. A direct comparison is needed between the academic outcomes of public elementary school programs which implement the Montessori Method and those which implement a more traditional approach to early childhood education. The focus of this study is the academic achievement outcomes of Montessori public school students as compared to similar non-Montessori students. The Montessori students’ Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) Total Reading and Total Math scores in grades one and two were not statistically different than their non-Montessori counterparts. In grade three, the Montessori students’ Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Reading and Math scores were not statistically different than those of the non-Montessori students. In grades four and five, the TAKS Reading and Math scores statistically favored Montessori students.

Language: English

ISSN: 2227-1090, 1991-8100

Abstract/Notes: Providing a meaningful and experiential learning environment for all students has long created a concern for alternate ways to teach students who are reportedly demonstrating non-mastery on state standardized assessments. As the benchmark for showing successful academic achievement increases, so does the need for discovering effective ways for students to learn. The Montessori teaching method has been in existence since the early 1900s when Dr. Montessori made her discovery of the student learning process. Dr. Montessori connected to the laws of nature and the environment for creating students who are problem-solvers with critical-thinking skills. The Montessori Method is designed to promote independent learning and support normal development in children. A Montessori lesson is defined as any interaction between an adult and a child; it incorporates techniques that are defined to serve as guidance for the adult personality in working with the child. The study investigated the impact of Montessori Method on the academic achievement of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) was used to measure academic achievement in reading and mathematics. An ex post facto, causal-comparative design was employed. The characteristic-present samples consisted of 47 3rd, 40 4th, and 44 5th graders. There were 71 3rd, 60 4th, and 49 5th graders in the comparison samples. Due to non-probability nature of the sampling technique, external validity was limited to study participants. Due to non-experimental nature of the study, no causal inferences were drawn. A series of Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the students who received the Montessori Method of instruction and those who did not on the basis of the outcome measures of academic achievement in reading and mathematics. The mean difference effect sizes, which were used to examine the practical significance of the findings, ranged from negligible to small. Although the results of the study did not support the hypothesis, it must be pointed out that the Montessori Method of teaching facilitates self-paced learning that promotes a child's independence and encourages decision-making which are instrumental in becoming successful learners. Additionally, Montessori advocates experiences that are "real-world" and allow children to build intrinsic motivational opportunities; therefore, creating independent thinkers that will be competitive problem-solvers in the global economy of the 21st century. The limited studies on the Montessori Method of teaching offer opportunities for further investigation at all grade levels. For example, it is recommended to conduct a study to compare students who receive Montessori education during the early years of their academic life with those who receive Montessori education from pre-k to high school graduation. Because the Montessori name does not have a trademark, there are opportunities for investigating Montessori teacher preparation and comparing the preparation of the teachers to the standardized assessment results. There are also opportunities for investigating the method and curriculum used at schools that carry the name Montessori for comparison purposes amongst Montessori schools as well as in comparison to the results of the standardized assessments at these schools.

Language: English

Published: Corpus Christi, Texas, 2013

Abstract/Notes: This experiment was based on the assumption that the academic failure of the disadvantaged or middle class child is due to a failure of instruction and that if above-normal learning schedules were maintained, the second year of an enrichment program would not show the customary drop in gains from the first year. The subjects of this study were 43 disadvantaged Negro and white 4-year-olds of high, middle, and low intelligence. Fifteen of the children were placed in an experimental group (I) and 28 in a control group (II). A 2-year program involving a group (III) of middle class 4-year-olds was also conducted, with a control group (IV) consisting of middle class 4-year-olds in a Montessori preschool. Groups I and III received a 2-year experimental program in which rapid attainment of basic academic concepts was emphasized. Group II received a 2-year traditional preschool education. Group I achieved significantly greater Stanford-Binet IQ gains than Group II and maintained them over the 2-year program. Group III children also benefited measureably from the program and demonstrated greater achievement in many areas than Group IV.

Language: English

Published: Washington, D.C., 1966

Abstract/Notes: The study examines whether elementary school students in Taiwan who had received Montessori education achieved significantly higher scores on tests of language arts, math, and social studies than students who attended non-Montessori elementary programs. One hundred ninety six children in first, second, and third grade participated in the study. Children’s scores were measured by Elementary School Language Ability Achievement Test (ESLAAT), Elementary School Math Ability Achievement Test (ESMAAT), and Social Studies Ability Achievement Test (SSAAT). One-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed that students who had Montessori experience had a significantly higher score in language arts in all three grade levels. In math, first grade students scored higher but not second and third grade students. However, in social studies, students who had received Montessori education did not score significantly higher than the non-Montessori students. There was also no significant difference between the number of years spent in Montessori programs and students’ language arts, math, and social studies test scores in first, second, and third grade.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/s13158-014-0108-7

ISSN: 0020-7187, 1878-4658

Abstract/Notes: Using 232 studies, this meta analysis reviewed the research on the achievement effects of the nationally disseminated and externally developed school improvement programs known as "whole-school" or "comprehensive" reforms. In addition to reviewing the overall achievement effects of comprehensive school reform (CSR), the meta analysis considered the specific effects of 29 of the most widely implemented models. It also assessed how various CSR components, contextual factors, and methodological factors associated with the studies mediate the effects of CSR. The analysis concludes that CSR is still an evolving field and that there are limitations on the overall quantity and quality of the research base. The overall effects of CSR, though, appear promising and the combined quantity, quality, and statistical significance of evidence from three of the models in particular set them apart from the rest. Whether evaluations are carried out by the developer or by third-party evaluators and whether these evaluators use one-group pre-post designs or control groups are especially important factors for understanding differences in CSR effects. Schools implementing CSR models for five years or more showed particularly strong effects, but the models benefited equally schools of higher and lower poverty levels. A long-term commitment to research-proven educational reform is needed to establish a strong marketplace of scientifically based models capable of bringing comprehensive reform to the nations schools. One appendix lists studies included in the meta analysis, and the other discusses CSR design characteristics. (Contains 1 figure, 5 tables, and 74 references.) (SLD) Also included in JSTOR: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3516091

Language: English

DOI: 10.3102/00346543073002125

ISSN: 0034-6543, 1935-1046

Abstract/Notes: Students who have attended Montessori pre-kindergarten and kindergarten appear to experience greater academic success than those who attend the general classroom. The purpose of this research was to examine what Montessori classrooms did differently than the general education classrooms and whether Montessori prepares students for greater academic success in elementary school. There is a vast amount of literature available on the impact of Montessori education on student achievement, but few comparison studies. The methodology for this research was causal comparative. Quantitative data was collected to ascertain the practices of Montessori classrooms to produce more academic success than that of the general education classroom. The purpose was to determine if students in a Montessori classroom will have higher academic success or if those in a traditional general education classroom setting will have higher achievement on the MAP reading and math assessment.

Language: English

Published: Central, South Carolina, 2023

Language: English

ISSN: 1470-8647

Abstract/Notes: extract from an article in The New Era.

Language: French

ISSN: 2492-3524

Abstract/Notes: "MORE Abstracts 2003? It is time for innovation and thus for contrasting developmental and conservative boosts to come to the attention of the various places in which school action is performed everyday. Montessori materials seem to want to contribute to the representation of the complex concepts of arithmetic and geometry and certainly have allowed the identification and definition of learning models and teaching patterns that have led to defining the Montessori proposal as a method. They have played a key role in the construction of teaching processes that can determine an effective and motivating repertoire of task environments, consistent with the needs and mathematical knowledge of the times in which they were introduced and that they contributed to generate. Certain processes, such as those of abstraction, codification, decoding, transcodification and transfer characterising mathematics learning, in particular, in the various phases of developmental age, may be found in those processes, but also revisited in the light of intentional interconnections within the current developmental state of mathematical, psychological and scientific pedagogical knowledge. The conceptual, theoretical and applicative characterisations in the field of mathematics teaching dictated by the needs to explore the invariant and variable aspects of reality and to seek order to place as a basis of a method, may start up a construction and reconstruction process of the codes of logical and mathematical language on the part of learners, within the specific semantic fields that the task environment may propose. In this sense the materials could be reconsidered as a junction between interdisciplinary maps with specific perspectives inside the “method” but able to enrich themselves thanks to the contribution of the learning experience that “multimedia” children gain in other real and virtual places that go to develop the sense of self-effectiveness in the area of mathematics – a territory which cannot be considered, even today, as very appealing – and within reach of the child’s mind.

Language: English

ISSN: 2281-8375