While Walmsley’s study offered plenty of praise for Montessori, there was also criticism as well. The staff isn’t fully trained, Walmsley said, and there may be other alterations to the Montessori method for it to find a happy medium in a public school district where test scores are deemed important.
“It can be done, but it has to happen organically and build from within,” Walmsley said. “I wish we were past the stage of having to explain away test scores, because it gets totally in the way of and fundamentally good, constructive debate of how to philosophically get things going again.”
Unfortunately, he added, miscommunication and misperception on all sides of the discussion aren’t easy to overcome. “These things run deep: They’re like political affiliations.”
As test scores have lagged, critics have called for George Washington’s Montessori experiment to come to an end. But the program still has support in the community, including among members of the school board.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the report filed by Dr. Walmsley because, regardless of the criticism levied against the program for poor test scores, there has been a definite climate change in George Washington,” said board Vice President Nora Scherer. “The core values outlined in the original Montessori proposal have permeated the building culture.”
Scherer said that sixth-grade teachers at J. Watson Bailey have reported on marked improvement in work habits for students coming to the school from George Washington, and that in some areas test scores have been on the rise as well. She added that it appeared as though that might have stemmed from efforts to align the Montessori curriculum with core curriculum standards set by the State Education Department.
“Consequently, what we are left with at George Washington is a hybrid Montessori model,” Scherer said.
And ultimately that may be how Montessori not only impacts the students at George Washington, but also those in other Kingston schools, as Walmsley suggested that the successes in the program in giving greater attention to a student’s emotional and social needs might be implemented elsewhere.
“We should be striving as a whole district to have well-rounded, well-educated children that are concerned about each other and the world around them,” said Trustee Kristen Uhl. “This has nothing to do with what school a child is in or what philosophy that school follows.”
Trustee Maureen Bowers said she would not support dismantling the Montessori program, though she hoped it would adapt to ensure greater success, including the idea of a hybrid program to help improve test scores.
“The question will need to be asked: Is the staff willing to concede a ‘pure’ Montessori goal, and embrace a hybrid model?” said Bowers. “If so, the mission will need to be changed to reflect the new goals.”
Other changes Bowers said she would like to see include targeted interventions for students in need of academic remediation in the program, more staff training, and greater integration of report cards in the event a student transfers in or out of the school.
Trustee James Shaughnessy said he believed there was a future for the Montessori program inKingston, though it may need “at least two more years to demonstrate continued improvement.” Shaughnessy added that improving test scores would have to be further integrated into the Montessori curriculum.
“The program needs to focus on the necessity of satisfactory performance on state assessments,” Shaughnessy said. “This will be a challenge, because it requires all students demonstrating the same competency on the same skills at the same time. This is antithetical to the Montessori philosophy of respecting individual differences, but it has to be done at a higher level than it has been done. The improvement in fourth-grade scores shows it can be done.”
Other changes to the program have already been made. As school opens next month, the Children’s House program, designed for kids ages 3-5, will be without its youngest students. Three-year-olds were ineligible for state funding through universal pre-K, and Superintendent Paul Padalino said cutting them out of the program saved roughly $200,000.
Jennifer Schwartz-Berky, a parent of a son going into the Montessori equivalent of the first grade this fall, was critical of the impact dropping 3-year-olds might have on the academic development of some of the district’s students in greatest need.
“What will happen to the three-year old children who can no longer attend the children’s house?” she asked. “How much are you investing in those 25 to 30 children who will never be able to attend if those programs are cut?”
For now, Montessori appears to be safe. It may continue being massaged to fit the needs of a public school district, but it’s also progressing enough that some members of the school board still appear willing to see it move forward.
“Nothing is perfect,” said board President Matt McCoy. “We’ve gone over many hurdles to get to where we are today. We’re seeing progress.”
