Why aren’t there grades in a Montessori school?
Children in a Montessori environment work without competition and coercion. Each child works at his or her pace, enabling the child an opportunity to explore intellectual challenges for the sake of learning and accomplishment. Assessment in Montessori is integrated into teaching and lesson planning through a variety of methods such as observation, recordkeeping of a child’s practice and mastery of lessons, portfolios, written reports, presentations, and dialogue. Standardized testing is administered once a year to students in 2nd level and above. Assessment is a crucial and everyday part of the Country Montessori approach. Teachers integrate assessment with their lesson planning allowing them to “follow the child” according to his or her progress.