An Alternative to "No Excuses":
An Alternative to "No Excuses": Considering Montessori as a Culturally Responsive Pedagogy:
Montessori students faired better than waitlisted children (who enrolled in other ECE programs) on a host of academic and social emotional measures (math & literacy composites, social understanding, mastery orientation, liking of academic tasks).
Standardized Test Performance in Public Montessori Schools:
Standardized Test Performance in Public Montessori Schools:
Publicly available test score data from 10 states, comparing public Montessori schools with surrounding district averages, showed that Montessori students were more likely to be proficient on state tests.
An Association Between Montessori Education in Childhood and Adult Wellbeing:
An Association Between Montessori Education in Childhood and Adult Wellbeing:
Amongst a sample of nearly 2,000 surveyed adults (median age of 36), two years spent in Montessori school as a child predicted significantly higher levels of subjective wellbeing (known to predict a host of positive life outcomes.
Montessori Education Elevates and Equalizes Child Outcomes:
Montessori Education Elevates and Equalizes Child Outcomes:
This mixed methods study proposed that the Montessori approach shares closer theoretical alignment with the principles of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy than traditional or "no excuses" educational models.

News & Announcements

  • Upcoming

    Angeline Lillard will be presenting the paper "Children's assessment of morally ambiguous characters" at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development in Salt Lake City, Utah in March, 2023!

    Angeline Lillard will be presenting the papers "Racial and Ethnic Parity in Preschool: Public Montessori vs. Lottery Waitlist Alternatives" and "The Preschool Learning Study: Preliminary Findings from a Survey of Montessori and Control Teachers" at the American Education Research Association in Chicago, IL in April, 2023!

    Christina Carroll will be presenting the paper "Likert-scale Measures Assessing Teacher Learning Orientations: A Literature Review" at the American Education Research Association in Chicago, IL in April, 2023!

    Calling all AMI-trained Montessori teachers interested in pursuing a PhD in Developmental Psychology from UVA! Dr. Angeline Lillard is seeking 1-2 candidates to begin coursework and research in August of 2023. Email Dr. Lillard for more information.

    Recent News

    Lee Leboeuf was recently awarded the Max Planck LIFE fellowship! Learn more about Lee, the LIFE fellowship, and the Max Planck Research School on the Life Course here.

    Corey Borgman spoke about leveraging research for equity and access at the annual conference of the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector in May, 2022. An all access pass to view recorded conference sessions can be purchased here.

    Lee LeBouef was accepted as an Institutes for Education Sciences VEST 2-year Fellow beginning Fall, 2022; her second mentor will be Prof. Jason Downer.

    Christina Carroll and Lee LeBouef were co-recipients of the American Montessori Society MA thesis prize for 2022.

About our Research

  • Our research concerns children's social and cognitive development with a focus on the impact of Montessori Education as a form of playful learning. 

    We are currently addressing four questions that...

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Current Projects

Dr. Angeline S. Lillard

  • Professor of Psychology

    Director of the Montessori Science Program

    Laboratory Director

    Not available

    Dr. Lillard is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association (Division 7), and the Association for Psychological Science. She obtained her BA in English Literature from Smith College and her PhD in Psychology from Stanford University, where she worked with John Flavell.

    Her primary research interests include Montessori education and children's play. Her book, Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius received the Cognitive Development Society Book Award in 2006. Dr. Lillard is also interested in the development of theory of mind, children's executive function, children and media, neuroplasticity, contemplative practices, and culture and development.

    Contact Information

    asl2h@virginia.edu
    p: (434) 982-5232

    Websites

    Dr. Lillard's CV
    Montessori-Science.org
    See also: Lab Director

Recent Publications