Montessori primary schools’ effectiveness: a quasi-experimental study on schooling outcomes

ABSTRACT

Montessori is a highly individualized pedagogy that prioritizes following each child’s individual interests over standardized test scores. This quasi-experimental study compares groups of Montessori students (treatment groups, N = 535–710) with control groups of non-Montessori students, matched through the simple matching method, which controls for the effect of background variables on schooling outcomes. The tested hypothesis is that the treatment groups achieve mean scores that are not significantly lower and have a significantly higher standard deviation on standardized tests of mathematics and language. The study encompassed students in Grade 2, 5, 8, and 10 across two separate cohorts. Results indicate that Montessori students attain either comparable or significantly higher scores than non-Montessori students, depending on grade and cohort, with greater score variability observed, particularly at Grade 8 and in mathematics. This finding implies the necessity for future investigations into the effect of Montessori teachers’ instructional practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Montessori education
• heterogeneous learning achievements
• standardized measure of schooling outcomes
• quasi-experimental design
• individualized teaching approach

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Founded by Maria Montessori in 1924, the ONM (Opera Nazionale Montessori) in Italy promotes her educational method through teacher training, school implementation, and ongoing research efforts.

2 The SIDI (Sistema Informativo Dell’Istruzione) code is a code from the Italian Ministry of Education’s Education Information System. This code identifies each student enrolled in the education system.

3 In Italy, a school may be located in one or more school complexes, and each school complex may have one or more sections.

4 https://www.vrcbuzz.com/f-test-calculator-two-variances-examples/

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stefano Scippo

Stefano Scippo works as a research fellow at the University of Florence in the field of special education and pedagogy. He obtained a PhD in Social, Developmental Psychology and Educational Research from Sapienza – University of Rome. Previously, he worked as a Montessori primary school teacher and as a trainer in the following areas: special education, Civil Service, financial education, and entrepreneurship.