Jackie’s Montessori career began as a parent, and quickly extended to researcher and administrator, as well as university professor.

An ethnographer by training, since 2001 Jackie has drawn from her direct experience as head of an independent Montessori school and principal of a large, urban public Montessori school to produce an internationally recognized body of scholarship on Montessori education.

Jackie’s 26 years in education have included roles as a middle and high school English teacher, an elementary school principal, a professional developer for schools, districts, and museums, and a professor of educational leadership at the University of Maryland. Currently Jackie is a Lecturer in Loyola Maryland’s Montessori Studies program.

She serves on the board of Montessori Northwest, an AMI teacher training center in Portland, Oregon. She received a B.A. in History from Smith College and an M.Ed. and Ed.D. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Publications:

• Cossentino, Jacqueline, and Brown, Katie. (2015). Assessing creativity and critical thinking in schools: Montessori as a holistic intervention. Association Montessori Internationale Journal, 2014-2015, 229-232.
• Cossentino, Jacqueline and Keith Whitescarver (January-February, 2012). “Visual Thinking and Montessori: The Theory and Practice of Aesthetic Development,” Montessori International, 102, pp. 29-31.
• Cossentino, Jacqueline, (2010). “Following all the Children: Early Intervention and Montessori,” Montessori Life, 1-8 Copyright (Winter 2010) by the American Montessori Society. All rights reserved.
• Cossentino, Jacqueline (2009). “Culture, Craft and Coherence: The Unexpected Vitality of Montessori Teacher Training.” Journal of Teacher Education, 60 (5).
• Cossentino, Jacqueline (2007). “Evaluating Montessori: Why the Results Matter More than you Think.” Education Week, 26(21), 31-32.
• Cossentino, Jacqueline and Jennifer Whitcomb (2007). “Peace as a Premise for Learning: Maria Montessori: Italy, 1870-1952.” In D. Hanson (Ed.), Ethical Visions of Education: Philosophies in Practice. New York:Teachers College Press, 111-125.
• Cossentino, Jacqueline (2006). “Big Work: Goodness, Vocation, and Engagement in the Montessori Method.” Curriculum Inquiry, 36(1), 63-93.
• Cossentino, Jacqueline (2005). “Ritualizing Expertise: A Non-Montessorian View of the Montessori Method.” American Journal of Education, 111(2), 211-244.
• Cossentino, Jacqueline (2005). “Leadership as a Master Class: Joining Role and Task in the Practice of Educational Administration.” In W. Hoy & C. Miskel (Eds.) Leadership and Educational Reform, 4. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, 117-147.
• Cossentino, Jacqueline (2004). Talking about a Revolution: The Languages of EducationalReform. Albany: State University of New York Press.
• Cossentino, Jacqueline (2004). “Becoming a Coach: Reform, Identity and the Pedagogy of Negation.” Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice 10(5), 463-488.
• Cossentino, Jacqueline (2003). “Curriculum under Construction: Confronting the Challenge of Engagement in an era of Reform.” Journal of Curriculum Studies, 35(3), 281-302.
• Cossentino, Jacqueline (2002). “Importing Artistry: Further Lessons from the Design Studio.” Reflective Practice, 3(1), 39-52.
• Cossentino, Jackie and Margaret Burchenal, (1995). “Partnerships in Reform,” School Arts. (May/June) p. 22.
• Whitescarver, Keith and Jacqueline Cossentino (April-June, 2011). “What Do You See That Makes You Say That? Visual Thinking in Montessori Environments” Montessori International, 99, pp. 20-21.
• Whitescarver, Keith and Jacqueline Cossentino (2008). “Montessori and the Mainstream: A Century of Reform on the Margins,” Teachers College Record, 110 (12).
• Whitescarver, Keith and Cossentino, Jacqueline (2007) “Lessons from the Periphery: The Role of Dispositions in Montessori Teacher Training,” Journal of Educational Controversy: Vol. 2: No. 2, Article 11.