Reaching Standards

Without Losing Integrity

By Faye Welch

As public Montessori schools operate across the United States, it appears the same questions recur.

How do you align Montessori with district standards?

Should district report cards include Montessori materials?

Will Montessori lessons meet state benchmarks?

One pivotal question remains:

Is the Montessori method fading into oblivion in the face of these benchmarks and assessments?

And one more question:

As educators, have we forgotten how to just walk and follow the child?

Educational institutions need to have a system of measurement to represent learning. Testing systems are not bad but we all know that too much of one thing can make you sick. Report cards are an effective tool in conveying academic growth. But they also need to be parent-friendly.

Montessori public schools should be the best of both worlds. Here Montessori philosophy is merged into public educational systems. It is the intermingling of both worlds. You do not give up one method to improve the other. And the reporting strategies should follow suit.

Report cards should represent state standards.

Montessori instruction and tracking should be part of the classroom procedure.

Both are intricate parts of student growth. Trying to represent both on a reporting system at one time can be confusing and overwhelming to parents as well as educators. Parent conferences are an invaluable opportunity to discuss particulars of the Montessori curriculum.

But the point remains that the Montessori curriculum far surpasses state requirements. It is a natural process to integrate Montessori objectives into state curriculum. After all, Montessori lessons go far above what is outlined on district standards. Using the Montessori method we can continue to meet those requirements and easily rise above what is required.

Students can move into the next grade level if they show readiness and we can serve students with supplemental lessons and interventions if they are struggling. Students will show us what they need.

Teaching to state standards is easily accomplished and should be an everyday occurrence. The question is:

How can it be possible that Montessori practices do not meet state mandated learning goals?

Administrators who have an understanding of Maria Montessori’s philosophy will not only see this viewpoint as pivotal, they will comprehend the powerful methodology behind it as a means for students to increase learning and, as a result, increase test scores.

Unfortunately the educational hierarchy that creates our tests and state benchmarks usually has little or no understanding of this philosophy and it is not considered in the development of public school assessments.

Increasing standardized assessments and teaching-to-the-test place educators under a great deal of pressure to show higher scores. Many public Montessori schools are expected to develop skills using methods mandated by the state.

Because teachers are held accountable for low standardized test scores, many have turned to the curriculum of what is to be tested instead of Montessori pedagogy.

This type of rational is faulty.

Students do not develop at pre-determined rates. The focus should be on the students, their individual stages of development and how they process information. Montessori gives us all that.

Special classes and extra curricular events such as Art and Music at times are looked upon as time wasted when children could be in the classroom to “prep” for upcoming monthly assessments. This is a great disservice to our students and the total school population.

These are classes that pique the student’s interest, increase self-esteem and make learning exciting. These activities act as a valuable learning method away from classes and should be looked upon as an asset, not a hindrance, to learning. Individuals process information differently and learn differently. How can we not consider these classes as another springboard to success for our students?

The Montessori Method is not the problem, but the solution, to increased assessment scores and over-all student achievement. Mixed-aged groups, peer teaching, mentoring and individual instruction have been proven to improve test scores.

Have we gotten so caught up in believing that high test scores indicate student success that we have lost our focus on the child, his/her psyche and stages of development?

What has happened to our public schools systems when the assessment scores become more important than the students themselves?

Faye Welch is a kindergarten teacher at S.D. Spady Montessori Magnet School in Delray Beach, FL.