Benefits of Montessori in the Elementary Grades

Since 2006, Dr. Christine Johns has served as superintendent of the Utica Community Schools district in Michigan. As superintendent, Dr. Christine Johns offers families a rich suite of options for elementary education, including a Mandarin Chinese program and a Montessori program that serves kindergarten through sixth-grade students. 

In Italy near the turn of the 20th century, a physician by the name of Dr. Maria Montessori developed an innovative method to educate some of her city's most economically disadvantaged children. The philosophy of the Montessori Method centers on a child's natural curiosity and drive toward learning. The teacher, or directress, presents the students with a carefully prepared environment and allows the child ample time to work with his or her chosen materials, while responding to each child's learning needs as they arise.

Although Montessori itself focuses on individual growth rather than testing, this child-centric and hands-on method has measurable academic benefits. A 2003 study showed that students who attended a Montessori program between the ages of 3 and 11 had notably higher standardized test scores in math and science when they entered high school. In addition, a study conducted in the East Dallas Community School system showed that students who attended the district's two Montessori schools performed among the top 36 percent of student sin the country in both reading and math.

Research also has shown increased subject-specific content knowledge among Montessori students, even when those students entered the Montessori program struggling to grasp the topic at hand. A study published in the journal Science showed that students with a Montessori education produced more sophisticated writing by the age of 12, while also showing higher-level social and interpersonal skills than students in non-Montessori programs. Similarly, a 2012 study published in the Journal of School Psychology showed notable gains not only in core academic skills, but also in social problem-solving as well as overall executive functioning.