Essential Elements of Successful Montessori Schools in the Public School Sector

Montessori Teachers

• Employ Montessori teachers who have Montessori credentials for the levels they teach.
• Maintain an active and open recruitment for Montessori credentialed teachers.
• Budget for future Montessori teacher education for non Montessori-credentialed teachers.
• Provide professional Montessori in-service by experienced credentialed Montessori educators.
• Contract for on-going internal and periodic external Montessori consultation and/or professional support as a follow up to Montessori teacher education.
• Employ one paraprofessional per classroom, each having received Montessori orientation for that role.

Administration

• Employ an experienced Montessori teacher to serve as curriculum coordinator.
• Employ a building principal/educational leader who has knowledge of Montessori principles and curriculum through Montessori coursework, Montessori
• Administrator Credential and/or annual conference exposure.
• Maintain commitment to the core Montessori curriculum and instruction even with changes in administrative staff.
• Sustain the support of the central administration through high profile communications about program development.
• Recognize that the best implementation process is to begin with the 2.5-6 age group and add one age at a time for a gradual progression.

Recruitment/Parent Education

• Provide Montessori parent education programs that promote understanding of Montessori principles and curriculum.
• Develop an admission process that informs parents about the nature of Montessori and seeks the necessary commitment to the program.

Curriculum/Environment

• Offer a full complement of Montessori materials purchased from Montessori dealers.
• Develop a classroom design that is compatible with Montessori “prepared environment” principles.
• Create uninterrupted daily work periods of 90 minutes to 3-hours, considering the 3-hour work cycle as ideal.
• Integrate specialty programs (music, art, physical education, etc.) around the uninterrupted work periods.
• Apply the appropriate multi-age groupings: 2.5-6, 6-9, 9-12, 12-15, 15-18 necessary for the diversity, flexibility, and reduced competition integral to Montessori.

Assessment

• Use a process of reporting student progress that is compatible with Montessori and includes parent conferences and authentic assessment tools such as observation, portfolio, performance assessment with rubric, etc.
• Implement state mandated assessments in such a way that the character of the Montessori program is not compromised.

Professional Development

• Budget for continuing education through Montessori workshops and conferences.
• Maintain membership with one or more of the professional Montessori organizations and seek Montessori accreditation to assure consistent quality.

This document was drafted and endorsed in the late 1990s by several Montessori organizations* wishing to help guide the growth of public school Montessori. It has been presented at a number of Montessori conferences since then and used by various school districts preparing to offer a Montessori option.

*The American Montessori Society, the Association Montessori Internationale, the North American Montessori Teachers’ Association, Montessori Educational Programs International, and the Southwestern Montessori Training Center.