Montessori Assessment Playbook (National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector Playbooks)

Book Synopsis: Can we measure what we treasure? Can we build and sustain truly excellent schools focused on the ambitious goal of human flourishing? And can we hold ourselves accountable to the children and families we serve in ways that harness data to advance that goal? The National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector says “yes”! The Montessori Assessment Playbook shows us how to do it.Organized around 33 discrete tools, the Playbook provides a clear and actionable scaffold for building an assessment protocol that captures compelling student outcomes, such as perseverance, compassion, and creativity, and that links those outcomes to the investments we make to classrooms and schools. Emphasizing both coherence and precision, the Montessori Assessment Playbook shows us how to develop and implement a comprehensive assessment framework focused on human flourishing and, just as important, why such a framework is urgently needed. From the Back Cover

With these tools, the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector has shifted the conversation from a narrow focus on Math and Language, typical of standardized testing, to what it summarizes under the term “human flourishing,” which is in line with Maria Montessori’s emphasis on whole child development. Whether focusing on executive functioning for primary children or social-emotional development for elementary and secondary students, these tools recognize what is most important not only for Montessori public schools, but for all Montessori schools and even the world beyond Montessori.

MICHAEL DUFFY, Co-director, Montessori Elementary Teacher Training Collaborative (METTC)

This is a clear, useful, and thoughtfully developed collection of tools, which should help organize and enhance the practice of Montessorians in public and private programs across levels. It is a necessary step in the movement from assessing individual children to assess- ing whole system inputs, and working towards the development of agency and responsibility in older children and adolescents. The reflective practice tools in particular will be especially helpful for new teachers matching elements of theory from their training to manifestations of those principles in their own classrooms.

ELISE HUNEKE-STONE, Director of Elementary Training, Montessori Northwest

The ideas and tools in this Playbook are central to our ability to fully implement excellent Montessori education. The idea that we can measure human flourishing is crucial. It helps shift the narrow paradigm of traditional assessment that can so easily distract us from what really matters.

KATIE TORRES, Executive Director, St. Vrain Montessori Community School