Reading and Math Achievement for African American Elementary Students in Public Montessori Versus Traditional Schools

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Black Students Achieving in STEM Education

Abstract

Although African American students make up a large proportion of the population of public Montessori schools (Debs, 2015), few recent studies have assessed how these students fare at the lower elementary level (grades one through three). In this quasi-experimental study, scores from end-of-grade state tests of reading and math for third grade African American students in public Montessori and traditional schools in a large, urban district in the South are compared using a multivariate analysis of covariance. Students in Montessori schools scored significantly higher in both reading and math than their peers in traditional neighborhood schools. This suggests that African American students can excel in Montessori schools, and may benefit from increased access to public Montessori lower elementary programs.

Authors

• Katherine Elizabeth Brown, National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector

• Chance W. Lewis, University of North Carolina - Charlotte