Elementary students transferring from traditional education classrooms to a Montessori school lack executive function skills (EFS) and struggle with academic performance and disrupt classes. The specific problem is the lack of strategies and support from school administrators to address an overwhelming number of new elementary Montessori students…

In this paper, we report the results of a qualitative study examining the development of leadership competencies as Montessori school leaders gain experience using a coaching protocol with their teachers. Extending previous work, the emphasis is on the school leaders' specific roles as instructional supervisors leading reflective practices.…

Through performance monitoring individuals detect and learn from unexpected outcomes, indexed by post-error slowing and post-error improvement in accuracy. Although performance monitoring is essential for academic learning and improves across childhood, its susceptibility to educational influences has not been studied. Here we compared performance…

Prior research has demonstrated that the characteristics of school environments can impact the development of creativity in children. Thus, we explored the construct of creativity in the context of a Montessori environment. We used the Evaluation of Potential Creativity to measure creativity in children during one academic year. The study sample…

Montessori education is characterized by autonomous learning, whereas traditional education is often depicted by high structure and fewer choice opportunities. This study examined differences in beliefs of Montessori and traditional teachers in regard to effectiveness, normality, and ease of autonomy-supportive and controlling teaching, as well as…

As children develop an understanding of their place in the universe, their mental model of the solar system should really go beyond a list of planet names and attributes to become a dynamic concept of bodies in motion and interaction. Montessori educators can help build a Sensorial impression of the cosmos by physically modeling the nature of…

The aim of this article is to understand how Montessori education, according to Maria Montessori, will enable 6--12-year-olds to meet future challenges and to care for and contribute to the wellbeing of society and the planet as a whole. This article reports on a qualitative content analysis of four books written by Maria Montessori. The analysis…

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact mindfulness practices would have on the independent learning processes of third-grade students in a Montessori setting. For the purpose of the study, independent learning processes were measured using three parameters: (a) self-reports of perceived learning on-task and off-task behaviors, (b)…

At the first and only public Montessori charter school in New York City, teachers create learning environments, materials, and lessons that help students guide themselves to find information needed to arrive at a necessary learning outcome. The sudden shift to online instruction in March 2020 required parents, teachers, and administration to…

Teacher knowledge needed for teaching is widely studied to characterize its key categories. We report findings from a study on teachers' knowledge for mathematics in the Montessori schools. In Montessori accredited schools, teachers learn to teach mathematics in ways different from the teachers themselves experienced in non-Montessori schools. We…

Although Montessori is the most common unconventional education model, no multi-state study has compared standardized test proficiency of Montessori schools with districts. Here we report on this for the 10 states/regions with the most public Montessori schools (n = 195). In 3rd grade, Montessori schools were less proficient in math but more…

Two experiments examined whether concrete models support place value learning. In Experiment 1 (N = 149), 7-year-olds were trained with either a) symbols alone or b) symbols and base-10 blocks. Children in both groups showed significant growth overall, but there were specific effects favoring one training type over another. Symbols-only training…

Although Montessori is the most common unconventional education model, no multi-state study has compared standardized test proficiency of Montessori schools with districts. Here we report on this for the 10 states/regions with the most public Montessori schools (n = 195). In 3rd grade, Montessori schools were less proficient in math but more…

This annotated bibliography is the fourth in a series published in Montessori Life, with the first reviewing articles published during the 10-year time span of 1996-2006 (Bagby, 2007), the second covering 2007-2009 (Bagby & Jones, 2010), and the third 2010-2013 (Bagby, Wells, Edmondson & Thompson, 2014). As with the previous reviews, the…

This annotated bibliography is the fourth in a series published in Montessori Life, with the first reviewing articles published during the 10-year time span of 1996-2006 (Bagby, 2007), the second covering 2007-2009 (Bagby & Jones, 2010), and the third 2010-2013 (Bagby, Wells, Edmondson & Thompson, 2014). As with the previous reviews, the…