This report was written in response to the Desegregation Monitoring Committee's request for the district to conduct a study to determine if the Montessori program should continue to include the middle school grades.

Currently, there are three Montessori schools operating in the Kansas City Missouri School District, Faxon Montessori, Border Star Montessori, and Holliday Montessori. The early childhood and the elementary school grades at the three Montessori schools are organized into three level grade spans as follows.

The district has already included a middle school component at Holliday Montessori, which began with the addition of seventh grade in 1997-1998 and eighth grade in 1998-99. This year Holliday has 29 seventh graders and 23 eighth graders. Faxon Montessori has 17 sixth graders. Border Star Montessori has no middle school grades. The middle school program at Holliday Montessori was organized into separate seventh and eighth grade classes rather than multi-grade groupings as espoused by the Montessori Organizations.

1. Montessori Middle Schools are considered experimental because there is no official Montessori middle school curriculum or standards to goven or direct the design of Montessori middle school programs.

Some schools use the name Montessori to refer to programs that have little relation to the tenets of Montessori philosophy or programs. According, to the North American Montessori Teacher's Association (NAMTA) (1999), there is currently no international consensus defining Montessori secondary programs. David Kahn, Executive Director of NAN4TA, explains the demand for Montessori middle schools grew from parents in the public and private sectors who wanted the Montessori method to continue into the adolescent years in order to circumvent the typical large, impersonal institutions and boring instruction that can lead to pre-high- school alienation from education (1993). During the late 1980's and the early 1990's the NAMTA reported that an average of ten schools annually opted to extend their grade spans to include the middle school levels. By 1993 the number of secondary Montessori schools exceeded one hundred. These schools were largely experimental with little or no documentation available to support their outcomes (Kahn, 1993). As of yet, no standards to govern or direct the design of these programs existed. This void in secondary Montessori program organization and structure exists primarily because Dr. Maria Montessori's research study focused on preschool and elementary students not secondary students.

2. Currently, there is no international consensus defining middle school Montessori programs. Montessori teacher training for secondary schools is emerging and not recognized by all Montessori Organizations.

It is a non negotiable characteristic of the Montessori program that teachers be educated in the Montessori philosophy and methodology appropriate to the age level they are teaching. Dr. Elizabeth Coe, past president and board member of the American Montessori Society (AMS) and CEO of the Woods Middle School, Houston, Texas, identifies the basic characteristics AMS believes must be present in Montessori classrooms regardless of the grade level (1991). They are:

• Teachers educated in the Montessori philosophy and methodology appropriate to the age level they are teaching.
• A partnership established with the family. The family is considered an integral part of the individual's total development.
• A multi-aged, multi-graded, heterogeneous grouping of students.
• A diverse set of Montessori material, activities, and experiences which are designed to foster physical, intellectual, creative, and social independence.
• A schedule that allows large blocks of uninterrupted time to problem solve; to see the interdisciplinary connections of knowledge; and to create new ideas.
• A classroom atmosphere that encourages social interaction for cooperative learning; peer teaching; and emotional development,

Classrooms that do not incorporate all these features may be fine classrooms, but should not be called Montessori, according to the AMS. Coe further explains "These characteristics must be adopted in their entirety. They are not a list of practices to choose from. It is the combination and integration of all these practices that make the Montessori environment unique. These characteristics have been referred to as the non-negotiables ...... (Coe, 1991)

3. Montessori middle school programs frequently fall back on the traditional textbook model of instruction because of a lack of available specific age appropriate Montessori materials and strategies at the middle school level.

"Most of the Montessori secondary curriculum frameworks have been derived from existing textbooks, commercial programs which are either conventional or experimental. Montessorians without advanced subject expertise and without the support of a coordinated curriculum initiative often have little choice but to fall back on the convenient textbook solution..."(Kahn, 1993)

"The danger of textbooks is that their similitude; their averaging of information; their limited scholarship; and their lack of reflective thought contrast poorly with the richness of the Montessori curriculum."(Kahn, 1993)

4. Students who exit Montessori programs at the pre-school or elementary level maintain the study habits and educational behaviors they acquired from participation in this program through their elementary and secondary school years. (Glen, 1993)

Studies in support of Early Childhood and elementary Montessori programs indicate that students who attend Montessori programs during their pre-school and elementary years develop study habits and attitudes towards school that are sustained after they leave Montessori programs. Students who participated in Montessori elementary and pre-school programs, have been shown to perform better than their non-Montessori peers on standardized achievement test when they return to other public school programs. Former Montessori students are identified by teachers as having higher competence in basic skills; have a better attitude toward school; and have a greater chance of staying in school than students without Montessori experience. (Takas, 199 1), (Kames, 1983), - and (Daux, 1989))

5. There is minimal support for the hypothesis that the number of Montessori Education Year would positively relate to those qualities emphasized in Montessori education (Glenn, 1993).

A seven year longitudinal assessment study revealed minimal support for the hypotheses that the number of years students spend in Montessori Programs positively relates to the qualities emphasized in Montessori education. This study does support the hypotheses that participants with any Montessori education would be at least as successful as the general population. (Glenn, 1993) Additionally these students exceed their non-Montessori peers in eligibility for the gifted programs (Takacs, 1993).

An U.S. Department of Education survey identified the following critical areas of concern for public Montessori Schools. (1991)

A.   The high cost of teacher training - Sixty six percent of public schools funded training for Montessori teachers in Montessori methodology. In addition to this cost, two thirds of the schools reported hiring additional staff in the their Montessori schools.

B.   The cost for additional staff - Montessori is a high dollar program for public schools. The KCMSD currently pays for Montessori teacher training and for certification. Additional costs are incurred by the reduced student teacher ratio used for staffing the Montessori Schools and for providing a para professional for each pre school and elementary class.

The Montessori schools receive an additional budget allocation to pay for teacher training. This year 1998-99, Holliday received S23, 830.00 to pay for teacher training. KCMSD is currently paying to train fifteen teachers in Montessori elementary methodology and philosophy, at a cost of $8990.00 per teacher' One middle school teacher from Holliday was sent to Texas for Montessori training this summer m a program that will include coursework in adolescent development. KCMSD is for paying this training, which costs $8167.00. The total cost just for current Montessori teacher training is $143,017.00. KCMSD win continue to incur costs for teacher training due to teacher turn over.

C.   The scarcity of Montessori trained teachers - It is difficult to find teachers who are both Montessori trained and state certified.

The biggest problem in starting and maintaining any public Montessori program may be the lack of qualified Montessori teachers. Teaching personnel who are sensitive to the adolescent age group; strong in content levels; and trained in Montessori are few in number (Kahn, 1993). The dual requirement for public School Montessori teachers, require both state teacher certification and Montessori teacher training further reduces the number of available teachers. Even with higher salaries and more benefits than private schools, it is often difficult for public school programs to fill positions. As a result, some teachers work in public school Montessori programs without appropriate teacher certification and Montessori training. The district has paid for Montessori teacher training since the inception of this magnet program.

Currently the district has 5 elementary teachers in the Montmori Program who are not certified according to Missouri teacher certification requirements. Of the four middle school teachers at Holliday, three have elementary Montessori training but not middle school training and one teacher is being trained in Texas this summer.

D.   Admission restrictions -The KCMSD requires students to successfully pass an academic screening for admission into the Montessori program. Students who do not have prior Montessori experience are not allowed to enroll into the program after first grade. The KCMSD also gives - admission priority to siblings who are already enrolled in the Montessori Program.

The Capacity of the Montessori program is listed below.

The enrollment projections provided by the KCMSD Research Department indicate that Montessori Program enrollment for the 2003 school year to be consistent with the program capacity. The enrollment projections for each school are:

The Montessori elementary program at Holliday and Faxon currently include sixth grade students as part of a mixed upper elementary class configuration (grades 4 through 6). This is a common practice nationally and does not seem to be problematic for the KCMSD Montessori program. In school years 1997-9.8 and 1998-99 seventh and eighth grade classes were added at Holliday Montessori. The September 1998 official census count shows a total of 53 seventh and eighth grade students enrolled at Holliday. If the KCMSD continues to offer the Montessori program at the seventh and eighth grade level, and attrition rates and admissions policies remain the same, it is projected that enrollment will be 110 in 2003.

A large portion of the increase in projected enrollment can be attributed to the students added by Border Star as it adds fifth grade in 1999-2000 and sixth grade in 2000-01. The total of I 10 seventh and eighth grade students does not seem to justify the additional costs that would be incurred to offer the elective schedule and staffing needed to provide a high quality middle school experience. Per pupil costs would be higher still if the seventh and eighth grade program was available at both Border Star and Holliday Montessori schools with approximate enrollments of 55 students at each site.

This year, 1998-99, there were 270 applications submitted for Border Star, 383 applications for Faxon and 358 applications for Holliday. These numbers appear to show a need for additional Montessori seats. However, students who apply for the program are not necessarily eligible for admittance into the Montessori program Admission into the Montessori program is not based strictly on the submission of an application. Students must satisfactorily complete an admissions performance screening assessment that is administered by the school. Students are not screened for admission until seats become available. Another enrollment variable is ethnicity. In keeping with the court desegregation order consideration must be given to the ethnic composition of the school to maintain racial balances at these sites. Many parents decided not to enroll their students in the Montessori program when they were contacted by the school, for the enrollment screening. For example, Border Star's enrollment never reached capacity this year even though there were 270 applications and of this number only i3O students were admitted, because parents declined placement when it became available and some of the students who applied did not pass the required admissions screening.

The demand for the Montessori program, based on the number of applications submitted for the 1998-99 school year, decreases substantially between ages three and six, which is first grade. The number of applications received for each age or grade level and the percent of decrease is listed below.

The decline in the number of applications between the P3 applications and the number of first grade applications is 375 or 87%.

If demand is based on the number of applications in relation to the number of seats available one could conclude that the demand for the program does exceed the seats available at the preschool level. The demand for the program decreases as students progress through the early childhood years and in the early elementary years.

A five-year analysis, from 1993 to 1998, shows an attrition rate of 38.2% at Holliday, 40.0% at Border Star and 0% at Faxon. It's important to note that the addition of fourth grade students from Border-Star - Elementary II in 1997 artificially reduced the attrition rates at Faxon and Holliday. The attrition rates for Holliday and Border Star - Elementary II are higher than that of all the other elementary magnet programs except Fairmount.

The attrition rate for Holliday Montessori middle school is 8.0%. It is important to note that Holliday's middle school sample only included 25 students, and the attrition rate decreased at the middle school level because Holliday received seventh graders from Faxon. Otherwise the attrition rate would have been higher.

Overall, then Montessori has a relatively high attrition rate. Enrollment in the Montessori program declines between kindergarten and first grade and between fifth and sixth grade. This attrition rate is significant because students who leave the program can not be replaced due to enrollment restrictions. Students who have no prior Montessori experience are not admitted to the program after first grade.

A review of the district test data indicate that student academic performance at the N4ontessori schools with all of the enriched instruction is consistent with the performance of students attending other magnet schools as measured by the MS and the MAP assessments.

The current Montessori program at Holliday while it is considered an effective program; it would not consider a Montessori program the AMS, AMI and the research findings. The current program lacks what research considers being key aspects of Montessori education. They are appropriate teacher training for the specific age level; specific curriculum and materials for the specific age level; and multi-aged grouping of classes. Currently, the only middle school Montessori teacher training is offered in Texas and there is no consensus among the two major Montessori organizations, the ANG and the AMS, if this program would be considered really Montessori. A multi-aged grouping, a major aspect of the Montessori school organization, was not implemented at Holliday's middle school program this year. Moreover, as students progress through the grade levels in the district's Montessori schools, the instruction and curriculum becomes more textbook oriented. The instruction begins to look more like traditional elementary and secondary schools and less like Montessori schools. Finally, at Holliday Montessori, the middle school curriculum is primarily textbook oriented and teacher directed. These teaching practices are contrary to the Montessori philosophy, which calls for a student centered inquiry approach to teaching.