Montessori Collective
Expanding Access to Montessori Education in Underserved Communities
"Within the child lies the fate of the future."
Maria Montessori
Our Vision
Every child has access to a classroom that honors their unique development and culture, fosters their independence and innate desire to learn, and frees their potential.
What we do
We expand access to Montessori in underserved communities by partnering with schools to convert existing classrooms to Montessori.
We provide:
Montessori materials at no cost to schools
Full scholarships for Montessori teacher training
Image Credit: Loyola University
Family Engagement
Image Credit: Hershey Montessori School
Professional development and coaching grounded in anti-racism
Image Credit: Montessoriforsocialjustice.org
Technical support with licensing waivers and Montessori accreditation
Image Credit: Montessori.org
Why Montessori?
Superior academic academic outcomes
Higher rate of academic growth than conventional preschool. (Lillard et al., 2017)
Academic growth is maintained in later grades. Students who attended Montessori preschool had higher reading scores in 2nd grade than those who attended traditional preschool (Rodriguez et al., 2005).
Closes the Income Achievement Gap
Montessori narrowed achievement gap by two-thirds (Lillard et al., 2017)
Achievement gap remained the same in conventional classrooms (Lillard et al., 2017)
Low-income Montessori students and high-income conventional students performed about the same after 3 years (Lillard et al., 2017)
Increases Executive Functioning
Executive functioning skills are one of the strongest predictors of positive life outcomes through adulthood, including academic success, heath, financial status, positive social behavior, and happiness (Friedman, et al., 2014).
Students in Montessori classrooms increase executive functioning skills at higher rate than conventional preschool (Lillard & Vu, 2017)
A Planting Seeds Approach
We call our method to expanding access to Montessori a "planting seeds approach." Starting a new school or developing an entire program is a monumental task, and limits the reach of Montessori to one school. But with the support of Montessori Collective, traditional public schools can start with one classroom, plant one small seed. The investment and risk are minimal. With a this approach, schools allow underserved communities to experience Montessori for themselves, and then empower them to advocate for the education they want for their children.
Support our work
Sources Cited
Friedman, S. L., Bender, R. H., Spieker, S., Keating, D. P., Scholnick, E. K., Vandergrift, N., Pasek, K. H., Park, Y., & The NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2014). Planning in Middle Childhood: Early Predictors and Later Outcomes. Child Development, 85(4), 1446–1460. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24032177
Lillard, Angeline S., Heise, Megan J., Richey, Eve M., Tong, Xin, Hart, Alyssa, Bray, Paige M. (2017). Montessori Preschool Elevates and Equalizes Child Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01783
Lillard, A. S., & Vu, A. (2017). Montessori: The science behind the genius. Oxford University Press.
Rodriguez, L., Irby, B. J., Brown, G., Lara-Alecio, R., & Galloway, M. (2005). An analysis of reading achievement related to pre-kindergarten Montessori and transitional bilingual education. In V. Gonzalez & J. Tinajero (Eds.), Review of research and practice (Vol 3., pp. 45-65). Mahwah, NJ: Laurence Earlbaum Associates.