This study is the first national study of public Montessori preschool's impact. It uses both Intent-to-Treat and CACE analyses to examine the impact of winning a lottery (and for the CACE analyses, complying with treatment assignment) to enter one of 24 public Montessori preschool programs across the US in the fall of 2021. Children were directly tested four times (baseline and each spring of PK and K). Collection and analysis of 3rd grade test scores is planned as well (spring 2026).
The study initially launched with IES funding in 2018 and data collection began in fall 2019. When COVID-19 closed schools in March 2020, prior to the PK3 spring data collection, the study shut down. It relaunched in the fall of 2021 with a new sample of 588 consented children.