Assessment – OMS Montessori

Assessment at OMS

Montessori educators view assessment as an ongoing, natural part of everyday classroom activity. Montessori called the process “scientific pedagogy”: observing the student and preparing the best environmental conditions for that student’s full development. It is the process of gathering information about a student for the purpose of assisting the student in his or her development. We do not focus exclusively on academic skills or intellectual development because we believe:

Each student is a whole being and each aspect of who they are and their daily experiences impacts on their development. To do the best job academically, we must do the best job in all other aspects.
Implementing any type of assessment will have an impact on the student’s experiences in the classroom. We do not want that to be a negative impact. We want to create optimum conditions for development and learning.
Therefore we choose the academic assessment tools we use carefully and thoughtfully considering both Montessori pedagogy and current research.

The majority of assessment of a student’s academic progress is done on a daily basis through a wide variety of observations and through discussion with the student. Testing is a very small part of the academic assessment. Using a wide range of assessment techniques allows for an overview of the student as a whole person, rather than simply focusing on the academics in isolation.

Norm Referenced, Standardized Tests (The CAT Test)

Norm referenced – A student’s results are compared to those obtained by the large representative sample of students across Canada…

Academic Assessment Tools used at OMS

Observation Observer’s anecdotal notes Observation of Montessori materials as these are very visual Curriculum checklists The ‘Three Period’ Lesson…