Evaluating & Reporting on Student Progress in a Montessori School

by Sharon Caldwell | Archived Issues / Montessori Leadership, Montessori Administrators, The International Montessori Council

“Here is the essential principle of education: to teach details is to bring confusion; to establish the relationship between things is to bring knowledge.”— Maria Montessori, Childhood to Adolescence

The Montessori curriculum is carefully structured and sequenced, and teachers maintain careful records of each child’s progress. Because Montessori Schools do not compare students against arbitrary standards, or against the performance of their classmates, we do not use familiar letter grades. There are many reasons for this. Generally letter grades are a poor reflection of a child’s learning. Their popularity is based on a vision of education that requires quantifiable data that supports comparisons and ranking. Montessori classes are multi-aged, and are designed to accommodate widely divergent learning and self-chosen work. The implication is that conventional assessment and reporting techniques are simply not very well suited and cannot be expected to accurately represent the range and depth of learning that takes place in a well prepared Montessori environment.

Narrative reports are better suited to the Montessori context. A narrative report is just what the name says – a written narrative that describes each child’s activities for the period under review.

The Montessori Foundation recommends that schools compile detailed narrative reports twice a year to report on the child’s development and to discuss how the Montessori program is contributing to their growth. Narrative reports are personalized and helped to give parents a level of insight into their child’s learning in a way that letter grades, or indeed any quantitative method, simply cannot do. Narrative reports not only allow for a description and assessment of what the child has been working on, but also provide an opportunity for the teacher to link the child’s new learning to past preparation and forecast what the child might be working on in the future.Converting from letter-grade to narrative reports

Sometimes, schools worry that parents will resist a change from the familiar letter grade reports to the more descriptive narrative style. Provided they are well done, parents seldom complain about narrative reports, and if they do it may indicate that they are not fully supportive of the Montessori approach. You may want to include a brief explanation of why your school has shifted to this style the first time you send out a narrative report. Here are some parent responses one school received when shifting from a conventional to a narrative format:

“THANK YOU Gail for the truly magnificent progress report! I enjoyed every second and every word that you wrote about Kelly. Everyone knows that my daughter is a sprite of few words so to read all about what she is up to at school was refreshing and fun to hear. This new style of reporting seems more thoughtful and informative and I really hope this type of narrative reporting is here to stay. A very big thank you AGAIN to you ALL for the quality time and special interest shown in [name removed] development emotionally and practically. Now I just can’t wait for the next edition.”

“When Sally gave me the report yesterday never was I expecting such an informative and exciting review of the progress of our [name removed]. It is so special to know that his teachers are right on the button in assessing his abilities, weaknesses and personality traits. I am so lucky to be a part of his life and thank everyone at Mountain Montessori for helping me build and mould this amazing little boy for his future role in society. A HUGE THANK YOU!!!”

“A very HUGE THANK YOU to all at Mountain Montessori. Love the new report style. So many questions were already answered about Jimmy which was on my list for the next meeting. You guys are on the ball! Well done & thank you once again.”

Record and Assess with Reporting in Mind

“Our nets define what we shall catch.” (Eisner, 7)

Curriculum theorist Elliot Eisner compared the assessment processes chosen to fishing nets. The size of the gap in the netting determines which fish are held in the net and which swim through. In this way, what is assessed (and thus reported on) ultimately determines what happens in the classroom. It is this important to remember that reporting is the culmination of a sequence of events and decisions that start with the school’ vision, mission and aims. The aims are then extrapolated in the curriculum. Assessment should be carried out in respect of the curriculum. Reporting is, in essence the final step in the process of documenting. It is an individualized, summarized report on the extent to which the curriculum has been successful, for each particular child, in bringing about the school’s stated aims. It is thus essential that there is a high level of consistency between all the various elements: aims, curriculum, assessment and reporting.

Throughout the year, you will be observing children working. Keep good narrative records of observations to supplement any checklists you may be using. It is also a good idea to take photographs in the classroom to remind you of details you may not have included in your notes, and to illustrate points in the report. Choose one or two especially representative photos for each child, and include these in your report.

When making narrative observations, highlight items that you may want to include in the report: major milestones achieved, work that has resulted in deep concentration or about which a child is particularly enthusiastically. Also, note challenges you observe and areas where the child still needs lots of practice.

Narrative records pose additional challenges at the elementary and secondary levels, but with the proper planning can they can become an integral part of the ongoing planning – assessing – reporting cycle. Especially as the Montessori curriculum is integrated, rather than divided into separate disciplines, the report can be structured around skills and dispositions rather than academic areas if you choose to do so.

Purpose and Use of Narrative Reports

Good narrative reports do more than simply give feedback to parents – they also re-enforce the school’s vision and ethos. Because you are reporting on what you intended for the children to learn, and not on some arbitrary external list of standards or outcomes, the report reflects what matters in your school.

It is important to remember that narrative reports are formal, official school documents that become part of each student’s permanent academic record. Although narrative reports are originally prepared as a report from the child’s present teachers to his or her parents, they will be read in later years by subsequent teachers, both in your school and in any school(s) to which the child transfers in the future. Therefore, it is essential that you avoid any references that would not be clearly understood by a reader not familiar with your class and school. If you know a child is transferring to another school in the following year you can structure your narrative report and use terminology that explains the child’s development in terminology that will be understandable to the new school, without compromising the fidelity of the Montessori report.

This is one of the ways in which Montessori schools can distinguish themselves from other schools. Narrative reports embody our commitment to each child as unique individual. They communicate that we are not simply teaching and then testing to see if the teaching has “stuck”, but rather that the adults are creating real relationships with children and taking the effort understand not only what learning and development is happening, but also how it is happening. When the anticipated learning is not happening, we are interested in why it isn’t and how we might help the child to move to the next level. If done well the narrative report serves to remind parents just why they chose Montessori in the first place.

Indirect Preparation

One of the reasons why letter grade or, to a slightly lesser degree, checklists are inappropriate in a Montessori context is that they do not account for that quintessential component of Montessori learning – indirect preparation. Coupled with this is the “explosive” nature of learning in the Montessori classroom. Unlike conventional schooling where steady incremental growth is the norm, Montessori schools expect children (especially those under age 60 to show little external evidence of learning for extended periods. These periods of apparent stagnation are followed by explosions of learning where the child surges ahead in a particular area. Indirect preparation is the reason why Montessori schools prefer not to report too regularly – the evidence of learning simply isn’t always there. But the understanding of indirect preparation can be conveyed to parents in a narrative. For example: “Amy has been working with the sand paper letters with great focus for the past few weeks. While she is not yet vocalizing a knowledge of the sounds associated with the letters she has been feeling, her increasing concentration and interest in this work indicates that we can expect to see an interest in writing and word building in the future.” A sentence of this nature not only tells the parents what the child is doing, but also how it links to future learning. These observations do not contain judgment – the child’s work is neither good nor bad. It is appropriate for that child, now.

Some work seems to have very little direct or measurable outcome, for example a child who is repeatedly feeling the geometric solids. You could help a parent understand this by explaining “Kyle spends a lot of time feeling the geometric solids. Although he is not currently interested in learning the names, he is paying a lot of attention to the differences between the different shapes and enjoys exploring the differences between them. This activity is providing him with a solid foundation for future studies in geometry, which may only reveal itself at the elementary level.”

This type of reporting is an application of the “principle of the hook” – the Montessori understanding of all learning being linked to something already there and something being prepared for in the future.

At the elementary or secondary level children may choose to work almost exclusively in one are of development. By looking at his or her learning holistically it is possible to report on learning across academic areas. For example, a child who is passionately exploring the animal kingdom will be developing and applying reading, comprehension and writing skills without necessarily working with materials in the language arts area.

Subsequent reports will refer back to earlier comments and create a link in the sequence of learning. This helps parents to appreciate their children’s learning as a continuum, rather than a series of isolated achievements.

Preparing Narrative Reports

A narrative report is a formal written text describing in some detail a child’s academic, emotional, social and physical development.

The first time you compile a set of narrative reports, it seems like a lot more work than compiling conventional letter grade reports. With practice, and good advance preparation, narrative reporting is both easy and rewarding.

Plan to write your reports well in advance. You can even write whole paragraphs in your ongoing notes that can be harvested when you begin to write reports. If there are areas where you perceive “gaps” in your ability to report, plan presentations and conduct informal assessments well ahead of time. Reports follow from authentic assessment, and authentic assessment is always performed primarily to inform teaching, and not simply for the purpose of assessment.

There is nothing that undermines a parent’s confidence more than reading a report that says a child cannot do something that the parent knows full well the child mastered months ago.

Tools for Report Writing

The writing process is made much easier if you do some advance planning. We recommend you compile two sets of lists that will assist you in writing your narrative report. These lists must be informed by your school’s vision and mission, and by your curriculum. Your school has a vision – an idea of what you want to achieve through your educational practice. If your mission is to develop the whole child your reporting must reflect that. If your school is, on the other hand, overtly academic, then that should be the major focus of your reports. If your schools mission and vision includes references to compassion, acceptance and inclusion, then the reports should indicate the extent to which those characteristics are being developed.

It is preferable that the lists are drawn up early in the year, so that you can make your ongoing notes and observations with these in mind.

Decide Which General Areas You Want to Cover in the Report

The first is a list of the general areas of knowledge and skills the child is likely to achieve in your class. It is important to have a faculty meeting where you discuss the types of things you want to include in the basic layout. Montessori education is about a lot more than simply completing work and learning content. If your school is more interested in how the child is learning than what he is learning your narrative style can convey that, while at the same time reassuring parents that real learning is taking place. On the other hand, a school with a strong academic focus can highlight cognitive and intellectual achievements in the reports.

Conventional checklists and reports are a starting point for these categories. They help you to get thinking, and to ensure that you narrative gives good coverage of all areas of development. Even if your school has a strong focus on one or the other area, it is important to give some attention to all domains. Thus your headings should cover cognitive, emotional, social and physical development at all levels. While many schools choose to use the major disciplines or curriculum areas as their main headings, you could choose to avoid reporting by academic area entirely. For example at the preschool level you could use the features of Normalization or the Human Tendencies as headings, and use subject matter descriptions to illustrate the child’s development in an integrated way. Either option works well, provided the whole school is following roughly the same format. Try to keep the format fairly consistent from year to year, as parents get confused by constantly changing report formats.

Compile a List of Descriptive Statements

Your second list will be sample descriptions of work done, activities achieved, attitudes expressed and so on. Just as in the case of the headings, you should word these statements so that they reflect the character and values of the school as a whole.

Especially for children in the second and third planes of development, you need to report on more than simply narrating what material the child has worked with, and what concepts have been learned. Higher levels of engagement with curriculum content should be reported. In this regard it is helpful to refer to Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning outcomes to ensure that the students are reaching higher levels of cognitive development. Resources for Bloom’s Taxonomy have lists of skills in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains, with descriptions that can help you find the wording you will need, and which can be adapted to your own needs. See for example http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html

As helping the child become an autonomous human being able to function independently in the world is a primary goal in Montessori, consideration of the extent to which each child meets his or her own human needs is a productive exercise. Consider the various steps to self-actualization mentioned in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem and self-actualization. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs) An alternative, possibly more holistic, approach to needs is offered by Manfred Max-Neef. (A basic matrix can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_human_needs). Understanding the ways in which the children on each level in the Montessori school develop the skills and dispositions to meet these needs broadens the range of meaningful aspects on which you can report, and aligns especially well with the focus on Fundamental Needs that is central to the Montessori elementary curriculum.

Whatever you include, the purpose of this list is not that you simply choose statements at random, but to provide some help in overcoming writers block. Sometimes simply scanning down the list helps to trigger ideas about a particular child that can then be linked to specific examples. Having a good thesaurus handy helps as well. Parents do compare reports, and will not welcome almost identical reports for different children.

The second purpose of the list is that it helps all faculty members to privilege language which aligns with the schools’ character and aims, and creates a consistent style throughout the school.

Involving Students in Report Writing

Some schools find it beneficial to involve students in the report writing process. At Nahoon Montessori School we discussed what we would be saying in the report with the child concerned, and invited their input. This often gave much deeper insight into learning and children would add items that they wanted to be in the record. We would ask such questions as “what do you feel was your most important learning this term?” or “what areas do you feel you would like to put more effort into next year?” The resulting input was often thoughtful. Children’s responses to our questions about where they felt they could have done better, or where they might be a little disappointed with their own progress were often way more critical than any teacher might have verbalized. Children also raised issues that were important to them, but which teachers may not have notices. One child, for example, asked that the following be included as her most important learning achievement for the term: “I don’t lose my temper so much anymore. I am starting to understand why other children avoid me, and am working on that.” Children are thus able to set their own goals and assess their own progress in a very personal and meaningful way.

The Writing Process

When compiling narrative reports for the first time, start with a writing rehearsal in which the whole faculty particpates. Teachers work together and practice writing a few paragraphs with the suggested reference points and the lists as a resource. Read one another’s reports and give feedback. Read the reports from a parent perspective. In this first stage don’t worry too much about correcting spelling and grammar but focus on expressing what you know about an individual child’s learning. You will find the reports become easier as you go along.

After the writing rehearsal you sit down to write the actual reports. Refer to all the data you have collected. If you have annotated your daily observations with reporting in mind, and pre-selected photographs, then the job is much easier.

School formats

Firstly, design a layout that will work for the whole school. This should include:

 The School’s full details: Name, full address and telephone number.
 Title of report: e.g. Narrative Report of Progress
 Child’s name, present class or age level, the teachers name, and the date of the report.
 A general outline for the opening paragraphs – i.e. what is to be included in the introduction for all children.
 A sequence of topics or general areas you have decided upon according to the process described elsewhere in this article.
 A rough outline for the concluding paragraphs.

Some Words of Warning

Be careful that you don’t put something down in writing that will come back to haunt you. We’ve all heard of parents who are very upset to find that their child is less advanced than they were led to believe from the reports at their last school, or who spend their vacation worrying about statements by the teacher to the effect that the child might have some serious disorder. Avoid making statements that cannot be objectively substantiated or which may be misleading or easily misunderstood. For example, avoid making statements such as: “She has demonstrated to us that she is bright and developmentally above her peers” or “He is developmentally far behind his age group.” Ensure that you are absolutely certain (through formal testing) before making a statement like “she is a gifted student.”

It is best to avoid any judgments or labeling as far as possible. Certainly never draw attention to any learning barrier or challenging behavior in a report before bringing these to the parent’s attention in a face-to-face meeting.

Sometimes parents are offended by the most innocent statements. While one family may be happy to have their child described as “sensitive” another may take it as an insult. Focusing on observable actions or specific instances is better. “Jane often seems upset when other children do not pay attention to what she is saying” is more useful than saying “Jane is a sensitive child.”

School Ethos

Narrative reports often say more about your school than they say about the child. For example, if you teach in a two-teacher classroom, statements such as “In my class, I feel, …” suggest that your co-teacher is not part of the team. Pay attention to choosing words and expressions that represent the character that the school wishes to project.

Avoid referring to the winter holidays as the “Christmas Break.” It can offend people who are not Christian.

Where possible avoid educational jargon. While some parents may understand, and possibly appreciate technical terms such as “developmentally appropriate”, “normalized”, and “sensitive periods,” most relate better to comments that are stated simply and clearly. If you do use technical terms, be sure to explain them clearly or use examples that will help parents understand what you mean.

Technicalities

Just like in college, select a style manual and follow it consistently. If your school is large, then compile a school style sheet for all teachers to use. Be consistent in capitalizing the areas of the curriculum. Normally, school subject names are not capitalized.

It is critical to have a time-line in place for editing, printing and signing procedures. It cannot be overemphasized that this process should start early.

Narrative reports are a formal record of a child’s progress through school. It is thus essential that each one is carefully written and reviewed by your colleagues and administrator. Go over each other’s narrative reports, preferably in a face-to-face work session, and tactfully and gently suggest improvements in each other’s work. Watch out for typographical errors, mistakes in punctuation, and double-spacing between words.

Parents tend to judge a school quite harshly if reports come home with misspelled words. Spell-check everything, but remember that computer software can be stupid. It takes a human proofreader to catch many mistakes. Every writer needs an editor and proofreader. It is often difficult to pick up errors in your own work. Have the 3 – 6 teachers read the reports of the elementary classes and vice versa. Have a non-Montessorian read the reports to ensure that they will be intelligible to parents. Obviously this person must be a staff member who has the necessary clearance to read confidential documents.

All reports are then read and signed by the school principal and the class teacher.

It does take time, but the results will make the investment worthwhile. Remember that this is not just a report, it enriches your assessments, informs future action and ultimately increases student retention.

References:

• Eisner. E. W. (1985) The Art if Educational Evaluation: A Personal View. London and Philadelphia, PA: Falmer.
  Max-Neef, M. (1991) Human Scale Development. Conception, Application and Further Reflections. New York and London: Apex Press.
• This article forms part of the Montessori Leadership Institute’s course on Authentic Montessori Recording, Reporting and
  Assessment, part of the series on Montessori Curriculum Planning and Implementation to be launched early in 2013.

Montessori Leadership / December 2012 / p 8