What the Research Says About Montessori Education

At a Glance: An Overview of Montessori Education Research

• Montessori classrooms encourage child-directed, play-based learning, solo or in small groups, with no pretend play, rewards, or punishments.
• Some research shows educational benefits from Montessori, such as improved graduation rates and better early reading outcomes.
• Other studies don’t find a difference in academic or social skills between students in Montessori and non-Montessori schools.
• Montessori toys encourage skill-building and self-regulation, while non-Montessori, open-ended toys encourage creativity and problem-solving.
• Montessori education may be the right fit for some families, depending on budget and educational priorities, but not for others.

What Is Montessori Education?

Maria Montessori was an Italian physician who developed a specific educational philosophy around 1900. That philosophy has since developed into a popular method of education. It’s used in schools and early childhood education centers throughout the world.

In Montessori education:

• Children learn through hands-on play involving a specific set of materials.
• Most play occurs individually or in small groups.
• Children are allowed to explore all materials.
• Children are allowed to choose what they engage with and how they engage with it.
• Classrooms don’t use rewards or punishments.
• Teachers guide and assist children, rather than providing direct instruction. 

In general, Montessori classrooms focus on teaching children to independently complete activities of daily living and use “real” objects that adults use. For example, children might have the opportunity to clean the classroom using a real broom and dustpan, rather than pretending to clean with a play broom.

Montessori also prioritizes what is known as the development of the “whole” child rather than focusing only on academic skills.

As a parent, that probably sounds great! But how well do these strategies work for real children in real classrooms?

Since the families that choose Montessori are so different, the best way to study Montessori schools outside of the influence of these family factors is to randomly assign families to attend Montessori or traditional schools. This type of study is known as a randomized control trial.

Randomized control trial studies effectively eliminate the problem of families choosing Montessori schools being different from families who do not.

How Montessori Impacts Reading & Math

The most recent study of this kind was a randomized controlled trial of Montessori schools in France. It was published in 2021. In this study, children were randomly assigned to a Montessori or conventional preschool classroom.

The researchers found two main outcomes:

• Children in Montessori preschool scored higher in reading than children in conventional preschool.
• There were no differences on any other measure of language, math, executive functioning, or social skills.

Was this study perfect? No. Some limitations were:

• Teachers in the study lacked formal Montessori training
• Curriculum was adapted (for example, daily work periods were shorter than 3 hours)
• Preschools included some non-Montessori toys and materials

How Montessori Education Impacts Graduation Rates

Two older studies from the 1970’s also randomly assigned children to either a Montessori classroom or a conventional preschool Head Start classroom. Both studies initially found no benefit for the Montessori method over conventional methods.

However, when the researchers followed up with the children later, they found some small effects:

• The first study found better academic skills and higher IQ in boys, but not girls, who attended Montessori.
• The second study found that children in the Montessori program were more likely to graduate high school and less likely to be held back.

However, both of these programs also had some limitations. The classrooms did not strictly adhere to Montessori methods. The studies also involved relatively small sample sizes. This means their outcomes might not apply to bigger groups.

Lottery Studies of Children in Montessori

Another way to study the quality of Montessori schools is to look at children who get into a Montessori school through a lottery system. These studies involve publicly funded Montessori schools that have more interested families than spaces available, so children are randomly chosen through a lottery system to attend the school.

The researchers then compare two groups: children who were chosen by the lottery to attend Montessori and children who were not chosen and went to conventional school. These studies should also eliminate the problem of families who are interested in Montessori schools being different from families who are not.

How Montessori Education Impacts Academic & Social Skills

In another study, researchers compared preschoolers (3 to 6 years old) who were randomly selected by a lottery to attend one Montessori school versus those who were not selected to attend the school. They found that by the end of kindergarten, the children in the Montessori school showed:

• Better reading and math
• Improved social skills
• Advanced executive functioning
• More creative writing
• More of a sense of a school community

However, it’s important to note that this study only included one school. This means the results could simply be cause by very high quality education at one particular Montessori school, rather than being about Montessori education generally.

So the researchers expanded on this previous study by including two Montessori schools and more children.

The researchers found no difference between the two groups at the first test point of the study. Yet, three years later, the Montessori students showed greater growth in:

• Academic skills
• Social skills (theory of mind)
• Mastery orientation (focus on learning rather than performing for others)
• Liking of school tasks

No difference was found in social problem-solving or creativity. Also, differences in executive functioning were only found at one time point.

The researchers also found that Montessori may reduce the income gap. This means fewer differences were found between high and low income students in academic skills in the Montessori schools.

However, it is important to note that all parents in this study were seeking out a Montessori school. This suggests that the sample may not represent the population as a whole. These parents may have all been more educated to start, or more involved in their children’s education than the average parent. These two factors are known to improve educational outcomes, regardless of the type of school a child attends.

Is Montessori Education Better Than Conventional School?

So what are the big takeaways from all this research about Montessori?

Overall, studies find that Montessori schools may provide an advantage in some academic and social areas. However, they find no difference between Montessori schools and conventional schools in other areas.

Also, the results are not consistent across studies. This means other factors could be affecting the results, such as quality of teachers or parental involvement. It could also indicate that Montessori education works really well for some students, while conventional schools work really well for others.

It seems clear from the research that Montessori schools do not provide a disadvantage to students. However, we need additional research before we can conclude that Montessori provides a clear advantage.

Why Are the Results About Montessori Unclear?

Why are these results so mixed? And why is it still soon to conclude that Montessori education provides a distinct advantage? There are a few reasons.

1. Schools vary in how closely they follow Montessori principles.

In some of the studies above, Montessori principles were followed very closely. In others they weren’t, and this may make a big difference.

On study found that classrooms following Montessori principles were associated with more advances in executive function, reading, math, vocabulary and social problem-solving over the school year when compared to students in schools that used a mix of Montessori and non-Montessori methods.

However, students were not randomly assigned in this study. It’s possible that the families who chose the school that strictly followed Montessori principles had other advantages. Regardless, it makes it difficult to apply this research to your local Montessori school.

2. Montessori isn’t a trademarked term.

Any school can call itself “Montessori” without following any of the Montessori principles. To know if a school is actually a Montessori program, look for:

• Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) certification
• American Montessori Society (AMS) certification
• Teachers certified through a program accredited by Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education

3. We don’t know which part of the Montessori approach is significant.

The research we have thus far doesn’t allow us to determine which part of Montessori education creates an advantage for children. For example, it could be part of the Montessori approach such as play-based learning or a more organized classroom. Or it could be the Montessori approach as a whole.

4. Teachers who choose Montessori schools may be different.

It is very possible that teachers who choose to work at Montessori schools have other qualities that make them higher-quality teachers. Most previous studies have not examined teacher quality, so we do not know the extent to which this factor has played a role.

Most teachers in the Montessori schools in these studies also had specialized training in Montessori education, a course that takes about 9 months to complete. It’s possible that any type of specialized training, whether Montessori or not, improves teachers effectiveness and thus the quality of education.

It may also be that teachers who choose to complete specialized training are different in some way from teachers who do not choose to complete this training. For example, they may be more committed to improving their teaching skills.

Are Montessori Wooden Toys Better for Kids?

Creating a Montessori-approved playroom in your home, full of wooden toys and low bookshelves, is very trendy right now. You especially see these on social media.

It’s hard to deny that the wooden Montessori toys arranged precisely on shelves are more aesthetically pleasing than a jumbled heap of plastic toys. Yet, Montessori toys are typically very expensive, putting them out of reach of many families. 

Are they really better for kids? Or are Montessori toys just one more unnecessary thing for parents to spend money on?

First, it’s important to note that many toys marketed as “Montessori” are not actually Montessori-approved materials. As mentioned above, Montessori is not a trademarked term. Any toy seller can claim their toys are “Montessori” with no basis whatsoever.

However, some research suggests there may be something “special” about Montessori toys. Research suggests that the more Montessori materials that schools use, the more children show advances in reading, vocabulary, and executive functioning over the course of the year.

But this study is only correlational, meaning it doesn’t say that the Montessori toys cause those advances. There are likely other differences between a classroom that only includes Montessori materials and those that don’t, such as having more trained teachers or more financial resources.

Another study asked teachers to remove non-Montessori materials from classes that had some Montessori materials and some non-Montessori materials. It found that children showed improved letter-word identification and executive functioning. However, no differences were found for vocabulary, perspective-taking, math, or social skills.

So are Montessori toys superior based on the research we have about toys more generally? Not necessarily.

Different Toys Teach Different Skills

In Montessori education, the materials provided are self-correcting. This means they are meant to be used in one way and they give the child immediate feedback when used incorrectly. An example of this is the Pink Tower toy used in many Montessori classrooms. If children place the wrong sized block on the tower, it will topple over.

However, research suggests that “open-ended” toys are associated with the most high-quality play. An open-ended toy is a toy that can be used in many different ways and does not suggest to children exactly how to use it, such as magnetic blocks.

Open-ended toys inspire children to be more creative and flexible, or to problem-solve by playing in new and different ways. They also tend to hold children’s attention for longer time periods. Yet, proponents of Montessori would argue that “close-ended toys” help to build self-regulation abilities and help children to learn specific skills.

However, both skill sets, creativity and self-regulation, are important in childhood development.

What Parts of Montessori Are Supported By Research?

Based on the research available, we can pull out the parts of Montessori education that studies have shown can help kids learn.

1. Play-based learning

A key component of Montessori school is setting up an environment in which children can learn through play. (Though Montessori teachers refer to play as “work.”) Research has found that play-based preschools tend to be associated with better long-term outcomes than preschools focusing on direct instruction of academic skills.

Specifically, research finds children in preschools with play-based learning, rather than teacher-led instruction of academic skills, showed:

• Improved behavior
• More social responsibility as teenagers
• Fewer work problems and arrests as adults

3. Hands-on sensory experiences

Montessori schools use concrete, hands-on learning strategies. This approach is backed by research.

Studies find that students learn better when information is presented in different ways involving different sensory strategies. Children also learn better through hands-on experiences. And research also suggests that sensory experiences with letters improve reading. For example, a class might a song about letters one day, then make letter shapes out of play-dough the next.

4. Child-led learning

Child-led or child-initiated learning emphasizes student choice and autonomy. Montessori schools place a strong emphasis on child-led learning as the child chooses most learning activities.

Research finds that this approach may help children to develop the ability to self-regulate. Studies also show that when early childhood educators listen to students and allow more child involvement in learning, they tend to see better outcomes.

5. Phonics-based instruction

In Montessori classrooms, children learn to read through multi-sensory experiences that stress phonics. That is, sounding out the letters and blending the sounds together to form a word.

Many schools still use the “whole language approach.” This involves determining the meaning of a word through memorization and context, such as relying on “sight words” or clues from the picture or the rest of the sentence. However, decades of research finds that this strategy is not as effective for early readers as phonics instruction.

6. Organized and structured learning environment

Montessori classrooms are organized and structured in a very specific way. Every object has a place, there are designated areas of the classroom for each learning activity, and there’s minimal clutter or distractions.

Children tend to do better when their classrooms are more organized. Research finds that more organized and structured classroom environments are associated with better learning.

What Parts of Montessori Are Not Supported By Research?

1. Mixed ages

Most Montessori classrooms include children of mixed ages, such as a 3–6-year-old classroom and a 6–9-year-old classroom. Conventional schools, on the other hand, tend to group children who are within one year of age into grades.

Research remains mixed as to whether mixed-age classrooms provide an advantage or disadvantage. Some studies find advantages, such as more social interactions among children. Others find disadvantages, including more negative interactions for younger children, less conversation for both older and younger children, and less engagement of older children.

This research does suggest that parents may want to ask about the specific age composition of the classroom.

2. Lack of pretend play

Montessori schools do not encourage pretend play. Conventional schools often encourage pretend play through the use of materials like dress-ups and play kitchens. Montessori schools instead encourage play with realistic objects.

Research has found that pretend play is associated with improved executive function, cognitive development, and social-emotional development. However, the quality of this research has been questioned; some research argue we don’t yet have evidence that pretend play actually results in these positive outcomes.

Further research is definitely needed to determine whether pretend play should be incorporated into education.

3. Adaptation for neurodiverse children/children with learning differences

Maria Montessori first created Montessori education for children who were institutionalized for being “uneducable.” She reported that these children scored in “normal” levels on educational tests after attending her school.

The American Montessori Society website also claims that Montessori education may be ideal for children with learning differences including dyslexia, autism, and ADHD. However, there is very little research on inclusion of children with learning differences and neurodiversity into Montessori classrooms.

Research has yet to determine the best methods for adapting Montessori education for children with learning differences. There also haven’t been rigorous studies comparing Montessori to other methods for children with learning differences.

In particular, Montessori classrooms may not be ideal for some children with autism who tend to engage in repetitive behavior instead of functional play.

4. Transition to secondary education

There are very few secondary education options (high schools) that follow the Montessori model. Most children have to transition out of Montessori school to conventional education by 8th grade. Research has yet to determine whether this transition is difficult for some students.

Children who attend Montessori school seem to have about the same GPA in high school as children who did not attend Montessori school. However, it may still be difficult for Montessori students to adjust to a different climate and expectations.

Most high schools, colleges, and workplaces involve feedback on performance and rewards, such as grades, praise, or bonuses. Most don’t allow you to follow only your individual interests and motivations. There needs to be further research on this transition to really understand how it impacts students.

The Big Take Aways: What Parents Should Know About Montessori Education

Maria Montessori had incredible ideas that revolutionized early education, and many high-quality preschools now emulate Montessori classrooms. But currently, we don’t have evidence that Montessori schools provide a particular advantage over other educational approaches.

Does a Montessori school fit into your budget and suit your family’s needs? Then it may be a great choice for your family.

Is a Montessori school is out of your budget or not in line with your educational goals? You can still feel good about choosing a non-Montessori school for your family. 

After all, some of the best research we have about education shows that things like parental involvement and having books at home have a much bigger impact on educational outcomes than the specific school your child attends.

Looking for support in the toddler years? Get early learning tips and explore how to help young children understand the word “No.” Learn how to join the Birthday Club and keep up with concerns about car seat safety.

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DR. CARA GOODWIN, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and a Charlottesville mother to four children. She received a PhD in child clinical psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master’s in Developmental Psychiatry from Cambridge University, and a Master’s in Child Psychology from Vanderbilt University. She specializes in child development. Dr. Goodwin translates recent scientific research into information parents can access and implement in their everyday lives through her Instagram account and her website.