Montessori in Action Podcast
Engaging conversations with Montessori practitioners
Season 4, Ep. 2:
Montessori Research
Recently a systematic review of Montessori research was released that found that relative to traditional education, Montessori education has a positive effect on children’s academic and non-academic outcomes. The review looked at 32 rigorous studies from 8 countries around the world, focused on children from early childhood through to high school. As the plain summary concludes “Across a wide range of implementations (likely reflecting the range of Montessori implementations in the real world) and in studies of moderate to high quality, Montessori education has a nontrivial impact on children’s academic and non-academic outcomes.”
This episode is a conversation with two people on the research team: Angeline Lillard, the author of Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius as well as numerous Montessori studies, and Justus Randolph, the lead researcher on the project who is the author of Multidisciplinary Methods in Educational Technology Research and Development as well as many other manuscripts and publications
Angeline Lillard is Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia where she directs the Early Development Laboratory and the Montessori Science Program. She is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association, and the Association for Psychological Science. She received her PhD in Psychology from Stanford University in 1991, and the American Psychological Association's Boyd McCandless Award for her early career contributions to Developmental Science. Her book, Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius (Oxford University Press) https://uva.theopenscholar.com/montessori-science-program/
Justus Randolph, a former Fulbright grantee to Finland, holds a PhD in education research and program evaluation, an M.Ed. in international education, and certification in educational administration. While originally holding a Mercer University faculty position in the Tift College of Education, he is now a Professor in the College of Nursing. His primary research areas include measurement, statistics, and meta-analysis, especially as they relate to educational equity, evaluation, and policy. He teaches primarily quantitative research methods courses and has been a member on over 50 successful dissertation committees. He is the author of the book Multidisciplinary Methods in Educational Technology Research and Development and many other manuscripts and publications.
Resources:
Montessori education's impact on academic and nonacademic outcomes: A systematic review