The Effects of Montessori and Head Start Environments on the Social-Emotional
Development of Preschool-Aged Children
Donna J. Wise
May 2003
Research on the effects of learning environments on the social-emotional development of
preschool children has gained increasing interest among practitioners and researchers.
This study examined the effects of learning environments on the social-emotional
development of the children enrolled in a Head Start Program that utilizes the Montessori
curriculum. The present investigation examined a teacher’s ratings of children’s
protective factors to determine if the Montessori class demonstrated superior socialemotional behavior compared to a traditional the Head Start class. There were no
statistical controls for confounding variables such as selection of class in which children
are enrolled, teacher interaction with children, and teacher temperament. Further, there
was no pre test given. Although the Montessori class demonstrated a slightly higher
rating for attachment and the Head Start class demonstrated a slightly higher rating for
self-control and behavior, neither of these differences were significant. Findings
suggested that developmentally appropriate preschool environments aid in the facilitation
of social-emotional development of the children regardless of the curriculum.