Effects of Montessori Education on the Academic,Cognitive, and Social Development of Disadvantaged Preschoolers: A Randomized Controlled Study in the French Public-School System     

Philippine Courtier  Marie-Line Gardes  Jean-Baptiste Van der Henst  Ira A. Noveck  Marie-Caroline Croset  Justine Epinat-Duclos  Jessica Léone  Jérôme Prado 《Child development》2021,92(5):2069-2088

Previous research on Montessori preschool education is inconsistent and prone to analytic flexibility. In this preregistered study, disadvantaged preschoolers in a French public school were randomly assigned to either conventional or Montessori classrooms, with the latter being adapted to French public education. Adaptations included fewer materials, shorter work periods, and relatively limited Montessori teacher training. Cross-sectional analyses in kindergarten (N = 176; M_age = 5–6) and longitudinal analyses over the 3 years of preschool (N = 70; M_age = 3–6) showed that the adapted Montessori curriculum was associated with outcomes comparable to the conventional curriculum on math, executive functions, and social skills. However, disadvantaged kindergarteners from Montessori classrooms outperformed their peers on reading (d = 0.68). This performance was comparable to that of advantaged children from an accredited Montessori preschool.  相似文献