Georgia- Action Towards Change
When QRIS was going to be implemented in Georgia, the
Montessori Administrators Group took action. It was clear to them that the
ECERS-R would not yield an accurate measure or rating of a high quality
Montessori classroom or program. One of the finest Montessori schools in the
Atlanta area agreed to become a “test case.” This school volunteered to go
through the QRIS rating process and the result “wasn’t pretty.” This excellent
early childhood educational program paled in comparison to the play based
programs assessed using the same tool.
The Montessori Administrators Group reached out to the state
day care licensing commissioner and office of QRIS. Their attitude was
positive, and confident as they offered to “help” this office. They had data to
share in the form of assessment scores of their third year students and they
assured the QRIS and day care folks that working together the MAG would “make
you look good.”
Last spring and summer, representatives from each group went
through every specific items of the ECERS-R with the question “What is the goal
of this item?” As the QRIS raters answered that question, the Montessori
educators were able to articulate how that goal was being met in the high
quality Montessori environment. With lots of discussion, a willingness to
compromise, without sacrifice, on both sides led to a verbal alignment of the
same standards in the context of a Montessori classroom. An Instructional
Quality Guide was created and “Montessori” raters were trained what to look for
and how to assess the standard in the Montessori classroom.
The commissioner of the state day care licensing office was
so impressed with the process that she came to tour and observe Montessori
schools in the area. She began reading the works of Dr. Montessori and is in
the process of writing a white paper that will align the ECERS-R with the
Montessori classroom.
Change can happen. High quality Montessori education can be
advocated for.
For specific adaptation of the ECERS-R for use in the
Montessori classroom see
It's important to note that in GA we found that much of the polarizing issues with QRIS were a matter of vocabulary, which once discussed with our state leaders, were easily resolved. Dramatic play is a good example. In GA, assessors have been retrained to count aprons and chef hats in cooking as satisfying the dramatic play requirement. As in our schools, solutions are found in relationships- in this case, others committed to the welfare of children.
ReplyDelete