Montessori education outcomes in Italy: Assessing the influential role of duration and implementation fidelity

Stefano Scippo
University of Tuscia, Italy

This article investigates Montessori education in Italy through three studies, addressing a significant research gap in Europe. Two quasi-experimental studies examine academic and non-academic outcomes, considering factors such as gender, age, socio-economic status, years of Montessori education, and implementation fidelity. A third exploratory study surveys Montessori primary school teachers (N=328), identifying three distinct profiles. Only one group, representing half the sample, strictly adheres to Montessori practices, enabling the earlier studies to assess the effect of implementation fidelity. Academic outcomes, based on two student cohorts (N=535 and N=710), indicate that Montessori students achieve similar or higher scores than non-Montessori peers, particularly in Grades 8 and 10, with fewer than six years of Montessori education sufficient to produce these results. An orthodox Montessori approach correlates with better mathematics outcomes, while a less orthodox approach relates to superior language outcomes. Non-academic outcomes, focusing on Grade 8 students (N = 85), highlight significantly higher empathy scores among Montessori students. Future research on different and larger samples is necessary to explore the link between non-orthodox implementation and language outcomes and to validate the hypothesis that the benefits of Montessori education on non-academic outcomes increase with the duration and fidelity of its implementation.
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Author: Dr Stefano Scippo is a researcher at the University of Tuscia. His interests focus on instructional design, Montessori education, special education, and educational research. He earned a PhD in educational research from Sapienza University of Rome. Previously, he worked as a researcher at the University of Florence, and as a Montessori primary school teacher and trainer. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7603-1506 Email: stefano.scippo@unitus.it Please cite as: Scippo, S. (2025). Montessori education outcomes in Italy: Assessing the influential role of duration and implementation fidelity. Issues in Educational Research, 35(3), 1197-1220. http://www.iier.org.au/iier35/scippo.pdf