Ratios and Group Size? What Do We Think?

There has been an ongoing discussion about ratios and group sizes on the Montessori Forward List Serve. This topic has also been explored on other Montessori Blogs and recently on the Montessori Teachers Facebook group. Recent articles, policy implementation, licensing rules and regulations, and a survey of the wide variance in ratios across the US have all brought attention to this issue. It is, clearly, a concern to the Montessori community.

Certainly there are settings and models and maybe a given population of children in which a small group size would be beneficial. There is some research that demonstrates this to be the case. But many of these studies have looked specifically at Head Start programs, and there is no research that we are aware of that specifically looks at ratios and group sizes in Montessori classrooms with credentialed teachers.

As we've seen, the ratios and group size licensing requirements differ from state to state. A look at the reasoning behind these differences would be really interesting.

The real point, though, is the tendency of state agencies and policy makers to work within a "one size fits all" implementation model. It makes sense from a logistics point of view. But this is exactly why Montessori grassroots advocacy activism should engage with the agency community. If we as a community, even at a state level, can agree on a threshold or baseline (leaving plenty of room for respectful diversity within our own implementation of Montessori quality), we can share and educate those who are responsible for implementing state and federal policy.

Many of you who have reached out as a community have found great reception from state agency people. They want to hear from the Montessori community. Our work is to present ourselves as unified, thoughtful, professionals who share the goals of high quality, safe and healthy, educational experiences for all children. Those of you working to bring an inclusive group of Montessori educators together is the starting point. Finding our common ground through respectful "internal" conversations will, hopefully, lead to the unified message we need to participate in the "external" advocacy discussions that will allow high quality Montessori education to thrive for all children.

Responses? Comments?