I am pretty skeptical of the Montessori approach. Take kids from wealthy, well-educated families and put them in small groups with educators that also happen t

I am pretty skeptical of the Montessori approach. Take kids from wealthy, well-educated families and put them in small groups with educators that also happen to be very well-educated and very passionate and you will get great results whatever the pedagogy. Contrast this w/ poor kids whose parents had low educational attainments, stuck in giant classes with poorly-paid teachers. If you put 6 well-off kids with 1 passionate, well-educated teacher, you will get good results almost every time. Montessori approach may have its merits but I find it very hard to separate them from the demographics of its students and teachers. The study in Milwaukee does not seem sufficient to establish a link. Those passionate about teaching are probably more likely to be attracted to the Montessori school than the regular public schools because it has a distinctive approach and probably more liberal management. I would love to love to know if the Montessori schools in teh Milwaukee school had the same teacher/student ratio as the other schools in the study. I am betting they didn't.