Assessment
How Assessment at MSB Works
Families who come to Montessori sometimes wonder how they'll know how their child is doing. It's a fair question, and one we take seriously. At MSB, assessment is not an event that happens twice a year; it is built into the daily life of the classroom. What we share with families at conferences and in written reports reflects an ongoing process of observation, documentation, and professional judgment that never stops.
Our teachers assess children continuously through direct observation, lesson records, and work samples. Every lesson presented is tracked, and teachers note when a child has been introduced to a concept, when they are practicing it independently, and when they have demonstrated mastery. This running record of each child's academic trajectory is the foundation of everything we share with families.
In the Elementary program, this process includes one-on-one conferences between the teacher and each child: a regular, structured conversation in which children are asked to reflect on their own learning, identify areas of growth, and set goals. These child-teacher conferences are among the most distinctive and powerful features of Montessori elementary education.
A teacher who has worked alongside your child every day for three years knows things about how they learn that no single test can capture. Our standardized measures, described below, exist to complement and confirm that knowledge, not to replace it.
A teacher who has worked alongside your child every day for three years knows things about how they learn that no single test can capture. Our standardized measures, described below, exist to complement and confirm that knowledge, not to replace it.
Primary Assessment (Ages 3–6)
ASQ — Ages and Stages Questionnaire
All Primary children participate in the ASQ, a standardized developmental screening tool used to track growth across communication, gross and fine motor skills, problem-solving, and personal-social development. Results inform how guides support each child and flag areas that may benefit from additional attention.
MSB Primary Reading Assessment
Primary children ages 5 and 6 are assessed three times per year using MSB's internal reading assessment. Results are percentile-ranked, giving families a clear picture of where their child stands relative to peers and how their reading development is progressing over time.
Elementary Assessment (Grades 1–6)
MAP Growth — Measures of Academic Progress
MSB administers MAP Growth to all elementary students in grades 1 through 6. MAP Growth is a nationally normed, adaptive standardized test that measures student growth in reading, language usage, science, and mathematics over time. Because the test adapts to each student's responses, it provides an accurate picture of where a child is performing regardless of grade level — above, at, or below grade-level expectations.
Results are shared with families, and, over time, MAP Growth data becomes one of the most useful tools we have for demonstrating individual academic growth — not just within a school year, but across the entire Elementary experience.
Sharing What We Know
Parent-teacher conferences are held twice per year at all levels, once in the fall and again in the spring, and are the primary opportunity for an in-depth conversation about your child's development, academic progress, and next steps. Written progress reports are also sent home twice per year in both the Primary and Elementary programs, and provide a record of work presented and mastered, as well as teacher feedback on each child's development.
If you have questions about assessment at any point in the year, you are always welcome to reach out to your child's teacher directly or contact the office.