'Reasonably Successful'

Survey Finds Public Programs Struggling But Optimistic

By Angela K. Murray

Public Montessori elementary schools are in a unique position today: striving to achieve a child-centered Montessori environment fostering freedom with responsibility, while simultaneously addressing the demands of state and federal requirements devised around more traditional educational settings.

My master's thesis study gathered input from 85 leaders in district-run public Montessori elementary schools to understand how they are balancing these competing demands.

Most schools report being reasonably successful at living up to the ideals of establishing true Montessori environments within public schools, based on the characteristics identified in the Essential Elements of Successful Montessori Schools in the Public Sector document approved several years ago by the American Montessori Society (AMS), Association Montessori International-USA (AMI), North American Montessori Teachers' Association. National Center for Montessori Education, Montessori Education Programs International and Southwestern Montessori Training Center. (Document is available online at http://www.amshq.org/print/schools_publicEssentialsPNT.htm.)

The representatives of responding schools report strength in employing certified teachers and supporting them through in-service training, consultation and professional support.

School representatives who responded to key questions reported that the vast majority of lead teachers (81.5 percent) had Montessori certification at the levels that they taught. In fact, half (51.2 percent) of schools reported that all of their teachers were Montessori certified. Almost nine in ten (88.1 percent) schools said they considered teacher certification from AMI as meeting requirements, while three-quarters (73.8 percent) acknowledged AMS certification.

A large proportion of those completing the survey report three-year age groupings of students (84.7 percent), parent education programs (89.4 percent) and a full complement of Montessori materials (78.9 percent) in classrooms compatible with "prepared environment" principles (100.0 percent). Most responders said their schools include programs for preschool children but not middle school children, with the majority (69.0 percent) serving children under the age of five. More than six in ten responders reported having an experienced Montessori teacher serving as curriculum coordinator (62.2 percent) or having a trained paraprofessional in each classroom in addition to the lead teacher (61.9 percent).

The greatest opportunities to strengthen the Montessori programs in these schools appear to be in the areas of school accreditation, administrator certification and scheduling specialty or pull-out programs (music, art, physical education, etc.) around uninterrupted work times.

More than half of those reporting on their public Montessori schools (55.7 percent) reported no formal relationship-accreditation or lesser status-to any Montessori organization.

Of these Montessori elementary school leaders, only two individuals reported having a Montessori administrator credential, but 40.3 percent were pursuing ongoing training of some sort. Almost half (45.2 percent) reported school leaders had some type of Montessori certification, but only two had been teachers in Montessori classrooms. In contrast, 37.0 percent of participants had been teachers in non-Montessori classrooms.

More than half of those reporting on schools (57.1 percent) reported fewer than three hours for the longest uninterrupted work cycle on a typical day at the elementary level. In fact, almost 20 percent reported work cycles of one and a half hours or less and only a third (32.9 percent) "strongly agreed" that specialty programs like art and music are scheduled around these uninterrupted work periods.

Those reporting indicated they were managing to accommodate to state and federal testing requirements. Even so, they would prefer tracking student progress using assessment tools other than tests (55.3 percent Strongly Agree). Practically all schools, according to those reporting, are required to participate in at least some of their district's regularly scheduled standardized tests, with the vast majority participating in them all (89.2 percent). However, this practice was in place for most schools long before NCLB went into effect. Most schools that participated in their district's standardized tests, according to those reporting, did so in the third through the fifth grade.

While a third of reporting school leaders believe the NCLB testing requirements pose a challenge for their schools (32.9 percent Strongly Agree), many reported that their schools perform well on district tests (37.3 percent Strongly Agree), which actually provide an opportunity for their schools to demonstrate success (30.3 percent Strongly Agree). Even though a portion (28.9 percent Strongly Agree) believes that standardized testing conflicts with Montessori philosophy, one-fourth (26.3 percent) provide test-taking lessons for their children to ensure they are not at a disadvantage in testing situations.

There is no widespread perception that Montessori education fails to prepare children for standardized testing (14.5 percent Strongly Agree) or that schools' participation in standardized testing compromises the character of these Montessori programs (13.2 percent). Interestingly, no differences were found in attitudes toward testing when comparing respondents who had Montessori certification and those who did not.

By far, budget cuts top the list of concerns regarding the relative impact of challenges faced by school leaders. Budget cuts received almost twice as many ratings (49.3 percent) of "major concern" compared to federal (28.4 percent) or state requirements (23.0 percent), the next most problematic areas. Parent, teacher, school, community, and district issues cause much less concern.

Considering the usefulness of various types of information in helping school leaders address these challenges, not surprisingly, information about Montessori-appropriate assessment tools was of most interest (61.1 percent Extremely Useful), followed by other Montessori schools' assessment strategies (56.9 percent), and academic achievement in Montessori schools compared to other approaches (51.4 percent). The information gaps identified in this study will guide the research questions for my doctoral dissertation.

The balance most public Montessori elementary schools are maintaining between Montessori ideals and government mandates, according to those reporting, is paying off in terms of their popularity in local communities. The vast majority of programs are growing (55.3 percent) or remaining stable (37.6 percent). Most schools (78.8 percent) report that they cannot accommodate all the children wishing to attend and have resorted to a lottery process for admission.

Data for this study was collected through an online survey conducted from April 24, 2005 through June 1, 2005.

I obtained e-mail addresses for potential participants by calling the 285 public Montessori elementary schools in the school database from Jola Publications and IntelleQuest Education Company/MontessoriConnections. The 85 study participants represent 47.2 percent of the 180 school leader e-mail addresses compiled from the initial phone calls. Almost two-thirds (64.4 percent) of respondents were school principals.

Angela K. Murray is a graduate student at the University of Kansas studying Psychology and Research in Education. She expects to earn her doctorate in 2008, after which she hopes to consult with Montessori schools. She can be reached at akmur...@ku.edu.