NCMPS School Accreditation
Accrediting strong, sustainable
public Montessori
What makes a public Montessori school great?
What helps it grow and thrive, year after year?
NCMPS School Accreditation is anchored in field-tested standards for quality and sustainability and provides a benchmark schools can share with families, district leaders, authorizers, and the general public.
Why choose accreditation with NCMPS?
Objective Standards
NCMPS accredits schools based on clear, measurable standards, the Essential Elements for Public Montessori, that many public schools use to assess and improve the sustainability and quality of their Montessori programs.
Continuous Improvement
The accreditation process uses the Essential Elements Review (EER), a comprehensive, onsite assessment used by public programs for strategic planning and continuous improvement.
No Extra Steps
Schools that engage in an Essential Elements Review (EER) can choose to be a candidate for accreditation. The Review serves as the facilitated self-study and there are no additional application processes or fees.
Schools earn accreditation based solely on program quality and sustainability.
Public Recognition
NCMPS is the leading education service provider supporting public Montessori programs across the United States.
NCMPS School Accreditation is an achievement a school can proudly share with staff, families, authorizers, and other stakeholders.
What are the standards?
The benchmarks for accreditation are field-tested, objective standards for quality and sustainability in public Montessori schools
.The core standards are the NCMPS Essential Elements for Public Montessori, developed and refined over decades in collaboration with other Montessori organizations. The Essential Elements comprise 43 standards across five domains: Adults, Montessori Learning Environment, Family Partnership, Leadership and Organizational Development, and Assessment.
.NCMPS has expanded the Essential Elements into a fully articulated program assessment tool, the Essential Elements Implementation Rubric. The Rubric breaks the standards into 97 indicators, and gives schools scoring guidelines for each indicator to support development towards high-quality, sustainable implementation.
The Accreditation Process
Schools contract with NCMPS for an Essential Elements Review, a comprehensive, onsite assessment and continuous improvement process anchored in the Essential Elements Implementation Rubric.
During a multi-day site visit, NCMPS reviewers meet with stakeholders, witness daily operations, and observe in all Montessori classrooms using the Developmental Environment Rating Scale (DERS).
Following the visit, NCMPS provides a detailed report and planning for next steps. Schools that engage in an Essential Elements Review can choose to be candidates for accreditation.
Candidate schools that meet minimum thresholds in each of the five domains earn accreditation when the review is complete. A sample of scoring thresholds required for accreditation is shown below:
Adults
- 90% of teachers and assistants are trained or appropriately oriented.
- Teachers implement a Montessori curriculum.
- All adults support independence and responsibility, and work towards understanding racial, cultural, and social identity.
Learning Environment
- The school uses Montessori age groupings, extended work periods, and student choice.
- Environments are beautiful, uncluttered. representative, and stocked with complete Montessori materials.
- Special education and multilingual learners are integrated into the Montessori curriculum and pedagogy.
Family Partnership
- School families and their perspectives are included and represented, and communication is regular and responsive
- Ongoing opportunities allow families to learn about Montessori principles and curriculum.
Leadership and Organizational Development
- The school’s vision, mission, and strategy are active and grounded in Montessori.
- School leadership is Montessori trained or oriented, and models respect, freedom, and responsibility.
Assessment
- Assessment is observation-based and aligned with developmental outcomes.
