How Does Benedicte Bossute Assess Children in a Montessori Class?

Benedicte Bossute tells Cult of Pedagogy host Jennifer Gonzalez that Montessori assessment is not only watching. She gives formal challenges, including math, and researches them so they are concrete for the child in front of her. The materials often contain the control of error, so a child can check the answer without waiting for a grade. For history she may point at a timeline and ask one child, or a small group, what they know. A real test, she says, is whether they can retell research they did themselves. Her class had a long run on the Civil War and Lincoln's speeches. She has also given entry-level middle-school tests informally, including mid-unit.