Another important characteristic of the Montessori approach is the practitioner’s
assertion that the approach produces superior academic achievement outcomes . Despite this contention, quantitative evidence to support the claim is limited. For example, Daux (1995) followed the performance of 36 “broadly middle-class” students from a private Montessori school from 2nd through 8th grade on annual standardized achievement testing. The students’ initial 2nd-grade testing indicated that the group was above average when the study began. Gains exceeding the pretest were reported in the areas of total reading and total math against the national norm. Despite the lack of reported statistical analyses in the article, Daux (1995) claimed that the results provide “quantitative evidence that Montessori schools produce greater than expected
academic achievement in students” .