Schools following the Montessori philosophy use individual and small-group teaching methods and hands-on, concrete materials. This study investigated the understanding of place value concepts and abilities of Montessori students by comparing interview task responses of 93 students in grades 1-3 in a Montessori school (n = 47) and in a mostly traditional comparison school (n = 46). Data analysis revealed statistically significant differences favoring the Montessori students on conceptual tasks when grade 1 and all grades were compared. No statistically significant differences were found on procedural tasks between schools at any grade level or overall.