| Mary Maher Boehnlein
MONTESSORI
RESEARCH
ANALYSIS IN RETROSPECT |
| MONTESSORI
RESEARCH
ANALYSIS IN RETROSPECT
Mary Maher Boehnlein
Associate Professor
Cleveland State University
In… |
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book would not have been possible without the help and support
of several people: David Kahn, Director… |
| CONTENTS
Preface ............................................................................................... ii
1.… |
| Preface
Montessori Research and
Montessori Public Education
This comprehensive volume of Montessori commentary and research… |
| credentials. Thirty-eight percent reflected either random multi-age
groupings or no multi-age groupings.
Indeed, without… |
| research, if properly guided, will establish once and for all the features
which make Montessori unique. Defining Montessori… |
| CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this book is to analyze research on the Montessori
method of education and its effects… |
| observe her subjects in a holistic manner; consequently, her research
was naturalistic or ethnographic. From her first… |
| Researchers who attempt classroom studies are to be commended.
These studies take immense resources and time to do well and… |
| Table 1
Montessori Research Studies by the Year
Category
Number of Studies by Year
13-50 50-60 60-70 70-80 80-85 TOTAL… |
| Disadvantaged; studies done with low socioeconomic status (SES) chil-
dren. These studies tended to overlap into both the… |
| 1. The teacher held a recognized Montessori diploma: AMI or
AMS.
2. The classroom was fully equipped in all basic areas, and… |
| studies hypothesized increased perceptual motor ability or eye hand
coordination from the sensorial materials when the direct… |
| the use of video-taped observations. She also depended on the random-
ness of the assignment of the children to compensate for… |
| Guthrie, L. & Hall, W. (1984). Ethnographic approaches to reading research. In P.David Pearson
(Ed.), Handbook of… |
| CHAPTER2
EARLY RESEARCH STUDIES
Travers (1985) credits Montessori with the fu-st educational program
that was based on… |
| Benson kept anecdotal records of her perceptions of the children's
progress, and comparing the Montessori children to… |
| 4. Mofx>r-sensory Experience: There was intense pleasure in using
the materials which provided varied senses room for… |
| essential principles, and which he believed were an improvement over
her materials. These materials are not described, however… |
| This study is interesting because it is the only research in the liter-
ature which specifies Montessori materials by age-… |
| CHAPTER3
LONGITUDINAL STUDIES
Introduction
Several researchers attempted longitudinal studies of children who
had… |
| Earlier research had shown that economically disadvantaged children
came to school lacking readiness to learn and profit from… |
| During July, 1965, and January, 1966, Banta and his staff developed
tests, observations, and interview techniques designed to… |
| creative as well as conventional solutions to problems. The word auton-
omy referred to self-regulating behaviors which… |
| these were very early developed in children and might not be amena-
ble to later educational experience. The findings… |
| ~-----------------------------
~- --
sentences on a subtest of the Wechsler Preschool Intelligence Scale
(WIPPSI); and to… |
| Montessori. This confounds the results and perhaps explains why
Banta found only slight differences between the Montessori and… |
| Parents were interviewed in person. Involvement directly with the
school was hard to measure. Types of involvement were… |
| Montessori teachers were asked how they would characterize the
essence of the Montessori approach and the majority responded… |
| records on absenteeism, teacher comments, and referral for special
services information. However, she had to suspend this… |
| Miller's Studies in Kentucky
Miller's research is characterized by sound research procedures
except for inability… |
| be doubtful that a measure of IQ gain would be appropriate for the
Montessori class at the end of one year. Motivation, she… |
| Fair" Picture Vocabulary Test for intellectual functioning; d) the Cin-
cinnati Autonomy Battery (CAB) by Banta which… |
| resistance to distraction, initiative, and curiosity. The Bereiter-
Englemann children achieved significantly higher on… |
| was from 8:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. There were 25 children in a class with
a teacher, an aide, and two parent-aides who alternated… |
| groups on curiosity but less aggressive regardless of the kindergarten
program. On Arithmeti,c, the Montessori group was… |
| higher than the traditional groups. In regard to effects of preschool
and type of kindergarten program, Montessori children… |
| superior to children in the other three programs, but the differences
were not statistically significant. There were no… |
| children's behavior and less on teacher's behavior. They suggested
that the particular Montessori teaching… |
| child's responses to preschool programs were predictive of later aca-
demic achievement and that the Montessori… |
| engage the child in verbalizations or require such verbalizations as
part of the definition of productive involvement. This… |
| participating in the Consortium study administered the following mea-
sures: Weschsler Intelligence Scale (Form B), A School… |
| highest percentage of high school graduates, 75 per cent, had fewer
children who were retained, and received the highest… |
| Kohlberg then studied a group of children who attended an extended
follow-through program in the Ancona Montessori School and… |
| Other measures were of school-related behaviors and attitudes and
social perceptions and social interaction.
Results
First… |
| program did not perform at grade levels on the Metropolitan Achieve-
ment battery even though they were scoring at normal to… |
| Children were observed by four trained observers on a near daily
basis or at least on four separate days of the school week… |
| odd-even correlations for mean percent of time engaged in each activ-
ity category consistently showed a correlation of .65… |
| Ancona Montessori school. Narrative records of the behavior of 65
children are described. She wanted to describe and analyze… |
| Montessori classroom had one teacher and an aid for 25 children of
lower and middle class socioeconomic status. Stodolsky… |
| spent more time in the non-Montessori activities than did the middle
SES children who spent their time in reading and… |
| with a set solution, a product. Their purpose is process not product
oriented. They are to provide a sensorial impression, not… |
| there was a need to insure sound teaching practices. At the end of the
school year children were tested individually for… |
| 3. Structuring the learning environment so as to provide diversi-
fied rather than restrictive stimulation with respect to the… |
| letters, Go Fish was used to teach numbers and each child spent 8-10
minutes on the Talking Typewriter.
Results
Results… |
| Montessori children remained at Sackville and were rated as average,
indicating long-term retention of gains made in the… |
| daily program as specified by the Head Start program. Montessori
children participated more in self-care and care of others… |
| Observation data was based on only two visits during the year, thus
caution must be exercised in drawing inferences from the… |
| Akron Model Cities Program
Guidubaldi et al. (1974) evaluated the effectiveness of four types of
preschool programs on the… |
| children. He investigated the long-term effects of a traditional day care
and a Montessori preschool for disadvantaged… |
| measures used. Second, while the groups seem homogeneous within-
groups and across matched groups on most factors, one problem… |
| beginning and end of the kindergarten program than those without
this experience. However, on all measures there were no… |
| Jensen, J. & Kohlberg, L. (1966). Report of a ,-e,earch and denwnatrotion proj«t f01' culturolly
duadvantaged… |
| Prusso, K. (1977). Preki1ukrgarl.en Head St.a;rt evaluation year end report 1976-1977, Repqrt No.
7808. Philadelphia:… |
| CHAPTER4
OTHER STUDIES OF CHILDREN OF LOW
SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
The following studies show the great variety of attempts to… |
| minutes of testing each month. Results showed that the cultural model
consistently outperformed the Montessori model and the… |
| The research took place in the Clavis Montessori Head Start centers
staffed by Montessori teachers in Fullerton and Costa Mesa… |
| pupils showing more significant mean gains in attitude toward school,
adjustment in group situations, and interest in the… |
| d) exercises in sensory geometry and numbers. Three additional objec-
tives were included in the Montessori curriculum: a)… |
| Children were pre- and posttested on measures of cognitive skills,
curiosity, self-concept, and spontaneous language.… |
| Tamminen, A. W. & Weatherman, R. F. (1967). An evaluatum of a presclwol training program for
culturally deprived child… |
| CHAPTERS
OTHER STUDIES OF
MONTESSORI CHILDREN OF
MIDDLE SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
This section reviews a variety of studies of… |
| and on learning how to do verbal problem solving. Reading was taught
using the Initial Teaching Alphabet, and the arithmetic… |
| A critical factor in this study is what was measured. Bereiter did not
measure what the Montessori program was teaching by the… |
| provided sensitive guidance. She continued to add to the environment
and provided materials which children could independently… |
| Canadian Middle SES
McKinnon and collaborators (1982) conducted a study which com-
pared the social, motor, and academic… |
| An interesting aspect of this study was the difference in teachers'
connotations of words used on the questionnaire.… |
| level scores was 1.8 to 4.0 with a median of 2.8. On social, academic and
attitudinal measures no child was rated weak, except… |
| teacher. The latter were completed within two months of the child's
entrance into either kindergarten or first grade.… |
| Commentary
The design and execution of this study is quite acceptable, but one
criticism of the study would be the small… |
| Mathematics
The primary hypothesis of the study by Morgan (1978), was that
certain aspects of the concept of number, as… |
| Dependent variables in the study were the motor skill of eye-hand
co-ordination, visual perception skills of figure ground and… |
| Gitter, Lena L. (1968). Interpretation and Summary of Montessori Modulaties. ~ American Mon-
tea,ori Society Bulletin, 1(4), 1… |
| CHAPTER6
RESEARCH OF COGNITIVE/
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
One of the earliest studies of intellectual… |
| The children were from middle income families and were restricted
to four-year-olds attending school for the first time and… |
| activities such as the grading of stimuli along a single varying contin-
uum.He also found that increased adult interaction… |
| There was no statistically significant difference between the groups,
but females from all three approaches scored… |
| week could improve attention. It is difficult to react positively to this
study because others have shown Montessori students… |
| children from four schools, Montessori, and traditionally oriented pri-
vate nursery schools in Madison, Wisconsin. Children… |
| example, discusses the propensity of the four year old to view a picture
as a static picture. The child cannot make inferences… |
| CHAPTER7
RESEARCH OF SOCIAL AND
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
Early and continuing criticism of Montessori preschool… |
| Education. She strongly supports the idea of the social responsibility of
humans and their interdependence with each other and… |
| data from observation of the three- and four-year-old children were
used in the analysis. There were more five year-olds in… |
| Time duration of interactions was significantly different between the
two schools. Montessori children interacted longer times… |
| life, sensorial, mathematics, and language. He observed 42 randomly
selected three-, four-, and five-year-old children in two… |
| strengthened by observations taken at varying times during the year
rather than just during the fall of the year.… |
| information about other factors that were believed to influence normal-
ization such as child-rearing practices, parent… |
| scale periodically throughout the year. Second, it is not clear if the
study was done in January of the first year the child… |