“They take no tests here, so it’s good experience,” Castle said. “We also like to see how they compare to children in other schools.”
According to Castle, it’s reasonable for students who are new to the Montessori method to take some time to adapt.
“Montessori is very concrete,” she said. “They learn from concrete materials. What I think could be happening is that if a child hasn’t had as much time to use those materials, they haven’t had the time to have that imprint made on their brain. When you go to a test where you have a pencil and paper, absolutely there might be difficulties in making that transition.”
Castle added that Hawk Meadow students who take the state tests generally score at or above standards.
But rather than simply sit around and wait for the problem to correct itself, Gretzinger said the district is being proactive in trying to bridge the gap. Beginning next week, school officials and teachers at George Washington will begin looking into ways of adapting the Montessori curriculum to reflect the current state expectations from all its public schools. The district is also expected to reach out to other public Montessori schools in the hopes of developing an informational relationship that will benefit them all going into the future.
“We’re doing workshops with the teachers next week,” Gretzinger said. “We want to spend time with teachers in the Montessori program to connect core standards of state with the curriculum and creating materials that parallel state expectations to get children to next level. We do need to see scores, because that’s how we’re evaluated by the state and the public. It’s disappointing to see that the scores aren’t higher. But I think what those children have been learning in the Montessori program has to be taken into account.”
Castle said that some of the teachers at George Washington studied Montessori at Hawk Meadow and were dedicated and enthusiastic enough that she believes they’ll be able to help the district turn the numbers around.
Calls to the New York State Education Department were not immediately returned. Among the questions that were to have been asked to state officials was whether there might ever be a different series of standardized tests administered to Montessori students. Gretzinger said he didn’t expect that to ever materialize.
“I don’t think that the state would agree to that,” he said. “I think they feel all students should be evaluated the same way.”
