(from the Hechinger Report) Any major city has dozens of “Montessori” schools, but that doesn’t mean the schools follow the teachings of the method’s founder, Maria Montessori, or feature some of the key classroom tenets of Montessori. Out of more than 4,000 so-called Montessori schools across the country, only 1,250 are affiliated with the American Montessori Society, about 220 are recognized by AMI and only 204 are AMS-accredited. For parents, the free use of the Montessori name could mean the “Montessori” program in which their child is enrolled will not provide the type of education they want or expect. And some Montessori advocates say this indiscriminate use of the word is damaging to the Montessori reputation and approach. Others are less critical about the variance parents may see among Montessori schools and describe schools' approach as “fully implemented” or “partially implemented.”
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