A national randomized controlled trial of the impact of public Montessori preschool at the end of kindergarten.

ABSTRACT: Although seminal studies from the early 1960s suggested quality preschool can have lasting positive effects, agreement is lacking on the efficacy of different preschool models. The Montessori model is longstanding but lacks rigorous impact studies; prior random lottery studies included just one or two schools, among other compromises. Here, we report on end-of-kindergarten (age 5 to 6) impacts from a national study of public Montessori preschool. We compared children offered a Montessori seat via competitive lottery admission processes at one of 24 public Montessori schools at age 3 ([Formula: see text]) to children not offered a seat ([Formula: see text]), estimating Montessori impacts with intention-to-treat and complier average causal effect models. Roughly half of the treatment sample

SUBMITTER: Lillard AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12582262 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature