Montessori programs are expanding in public schools, serving a large proportion of African American students. Although recent Montessori research has focused on diverse public school populations, few studies have examined outcomes for African American students at the lower elementary level. This quasi-experimental study compares reading and math…

Research from the past 40 years indicates that Black students in primary and secondary school settings are subjected to exclusionary discipline, including suspension and expulsion, at rates two to three times higher than their White peers (Children's Defense Fund, 1975; Skiba, Michael, Nardo, & Peterson, 2002). Although this phenomenon has…