4/1/2010 – 12/31/2017
$413,304
The results of this longitudinal study were released in 2017. Researchers followed three to six year old children in two high-fidelity Montessori magnet schools and a control group of 3-6 year old children in business-as-usual schools located in Hartford, CT. Using a randomized wait list control group design, this study assigned about 140 children into treatment and control groups. The results demonstrated positive impacts for Montessori early education overall and also suggested that the approach may help to close opportunity gaps in the public sector. The principal investigator, Dr. Angeline Lillard of the University of Virginia, conducted a pilot study published in Science in 2006 showing that children at public Montessori schools in Milwaukee had significantly better outcomes than lotteried-out counterparts at other Milwaukee area schools.