One essential fact emerges from these results: contrary to beliefs of proponents of the middle school, pupils in middle schools consistently indicated significantly lower self-perceptions than pupils in traditional settings. (Authors)

This study compared the time use and perceptions of schools, teachers, and friends of approximately 290 demographically matched students in Montessori and traditional middle schools. We used the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) and questionnaires and conducted multivariate analyses showing that the Montessori students (a) reported more positive…