The proliferation of urban "no-excuses" charter schools has been justified by arguing that Black and Latinx parents want strict discipline. In this article, we examine what discipline means to Black and Latinx families at two popular choice options: a no-excuses charter and two public Montessori magnets. We found that parents viewed…

Due to the steady growth of Montessori in the public sector over the past 20 years, the question of whether authentic Montessori can be implemented in public schools is often raised. To try to shed light on this question, in 2011, the authors began a research study of more than 315 South Carolina public school classrooms (with approximately 7,500…

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…

As public Montessori schools rapidly expand through the United States, the question then arises: What population of students do the schools serve? This study presents a new empirical data set examining the racial and economic diversity of 300 whole-school, public Montessori programs open in 2012-2013, where the entire school uses the Montessori…

With support from the Self Family Foundation and the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee, the Riley Institute has completed a multi-year study of Montessori education in South Carolina's public schools, the most comprehensive evaluation of public Montessori ever conducted in the United States. Between 2011 and 2016, this mixed-method…

The main purpose of this study was to examine whether the age at which children start to learn to read affects their later progress. The study was conducted in Zürich, Switzerland, and compared a first grade class in a local school with two first grade classes in a Montessori school. It was found that although the Montessori children had an…

One of the few constants in the author's life since beginning work at a Montessori school, in 1968, is that people are still asking why more children, especially children from low-income families, do not have access to high-quality Montessori programs. The problem of creating free or low-cost opportunities has been a struggle since the first…

In a gentrifying area of St. Louis, Missouri, City Garden Montessori School is an integrated haven in a segregated city, as well as an active voice for racial justice and reconciliation. Realizing its power to both reflect and change its neighborhood, the school commits itself to harnessing its unique position to push for effective public policy…

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…

Within the current standards-based framework of early primary education, teachers must negotiate the integration of assessment with traditional, developmental orientations to teaching and learning. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine teachers' approaches to early primary assessment within five different school contexts: public,…

A public Montessori school is expected to demonstrate high student scores on standardized assessments to succeed in the current school accountability era. A problem for a public Montessori elementary school is how to make sense of the school's high-stakes assessment scores in terms of Montessori's unique educational approach. This case study…

Elementary education has theoretical underpinnings based on cognitive psychology. Ideas from cognitive psychologists such as James, Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky coalesce to form constructivism (Cooper, 1993; Yager, 2000; Yilmaz, 2011). Among others, the Montessori Method (1912/1964) is an exemplar of constructivism. Currently, public education in…

Public Montessori schools have grown in number significantly in the United States. This case study chronicles the journey of teachers as they navigate the tension of balancing the Montessori approach with an accountability Standards model. Although Montessori may be in demand among parents in the nation, exhibited by the increase in public…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions of Texas public Montessori school principals as instructional leaders in science. Twelve public Montessori school principals were interviewed for this study. Two research questions were used: How do public Montessori principals perceive Texas science standards in public…

Martha Urioste tells a compelling history of public sector Montessori in Denver, from its socially charged beginnings in the 1960s to 2009. She played a huge role in creating the first public Montessori school in Colorado that was launched as an integration model with bilingual classes and staff. This inspirational story begins with her early…