My School Website - Montessori Approach to Assessment

The main purpose of National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) from the government perspective is to identify children at risk of long-term failure early enough to intervene in a way that will make a difference. Fortunately, the Montessori approach to assessment provides ongoing feedback and in depth information enabling learning programmes to be tailor made to support each child's optimal development.

Montessori schools participate in NAPLAN to comply with regulatory requirements and children sit the tests as another classroom (practical life) activity. Most educators agree that the NAPLAN tests are a snapshot on a particular day rather than an assessment of the total development of the child. Statistically, the small numbers of children sitting the tests in Montessori schools make the results less meaningful, as are comparisons with “similar schools” the similarity being based on socio-economic scores. Montessori schools focus on the total development of the child – physical, social, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. The NAPLAN results only focus on numeracy and literacy and as such cannot provide a comprehensive measure of a school's effectiveness.

Montessori education aims to foster a life-long love of learning and favours intrinsic motivation rather than external testing, rewards and punishments. Montessori schools do not teach to prepare student for tests, they aim to prepare children for life. Activities are therefore open-ended, encouraging exploration and creative thinking, and as such do not lend themselves to grading. Children take ownership of their own progress through their daily work journal, weekly individual conferences with their teacher, by requesting specific lessons as the need arises, and by maintaining portfolios of work completed. These materials, and detailed daily observations of each child by the teacher, form the basis of reporting to parents.

Montessori Approach to Assessment and Evaluation

The Montessori curriculum is organised in a developmental sequence from one phase of learning to the next. Individual students, however, are able to work successfully through elements of the curriculum in a sequence unique to themselves. For this reason, comparisons between students may not be meaningful. The validity of norm-referenced assessment and the ranking of students are further reduced in the Montessori context because, in a multi-age classroom, there are comparatively small numbers of children at the same age and stage. Assessment in Montessori classrooms, therefore, is based on each student’s mastery of skills and knowledge at any point in the sequence, rather than on norm-referenced assessment.

Children display their progress and achievement through a variety of modes, including spoken and written language, interaction with others, creative arts such as drama, visual arts, model-making and, importantly, through applying what they have learned in practical ways.

Formative Assessment

Montessori teachers keep careful records to ensure the students are provided with appropriate lessons when they are ready. Daily observation of students and detailed record-keeping help teachers plan the lessons individuals will need next. A Montessori teacher keeps records of:
	lessons given
	the follow up work completed by each student
	student progress and achievement
	difficulties encountered by individual students and how those difficulties were resolved

Montessori teaching and learning practices provide enhanced opportunities for formative assessment. Here are some examples:
	Because teachers have children in their class for three years, they come to know each child in a way that is not possible when children move to a new class with a new teacher every school year. Through close observation over three years Montessori teachers become very aware of their students’ learning styles, strengths and areas requiring further development.
	Because most lessons are presented to individuals or small groups, the teacher can easily observe and record levels of understanding and mastery in individuals. Before a lesson draws to a close, all children in the lesson are given the opportunity to show they know how to use the materials. Any student who needs further teaching can review the lesson when it is presented to the next group of students ready for the lesson.
	Because so many of the materials are self-correcting, when children have completed the exercises with the materials successfully, both the teacher and the children know that they have mastered the knowledge, skills and understanding designed into the material. The design of the materials also ensures that children are able to recognise themselves when something is not right. They then know they can ask for another lesson, or repeat the activity until they have mastered it. In this way children come to think of making mistakes as their ‘friend’, because a mistake is an opportunity for further learning and deeper understanding.
	Because children choose their own work, they reveal a great deal about their interests and abilities at any point in time, which teachers are then able to observe and record.
	During their regular individual conferences with the teacher students over the age of six become co-assessors of their work with the teacher. By the time they reach the adolescent program, students monitor their own progress by reference to explicit criteria.

Summative Assessment

Learner achievement in Montessori classrooms is recorded through observation, the compilation of portfolios and detailed records of progress. Progress can also be measured against achievement benchmarks - or standards-based criteria. In these ways each student’s progress can be expressed in terms meaningful to the student, as well as to teachers, parents and the wider community.

While formal testing can be used in a Montessori setting, it is used sparingly and with sufficient contextualisation that all children understand the need for the assessment. Children like to display their knowledge and often ask for tests, for example, in spelling words. Their pride in achievement and their sense of striving for higher goals motivate the testing, rather than a need to submit to a curriculum demand. This approach is applied to the real world when Montessori students sit for tests or examinations mandated by local education authorities (e.g. NAPLAN).

Montessori education is designed to meet the needs and interests of individual children. One important need is for children to become successful members of the culture in which they live. To address this need, Montessori teachers compare the demands of the curriculum mandated by the authorities to the traditional Montessori curriculum to ensure that all mandated areas are covered. The expansive nature and enormous scope of the Montessori curriculum also means children have the opportunity to cover many topics not covered by the state curriculum and explore areas in greater depth.