MONTESSORI CREDENTIAL RECOGNITION UPDATE
Private Academic School Board Vote – January 17, 2025
We are thrilled to announce that at its January 17, 2025 meeting after a year of discussions and negotiations, the PA Private Academic School Board voted to approve the following policy regarding Montessori teaching credentials for teachers in private Montessori schools:
Teachers in Montessori Schools – Statement of Policy
The purpose of this statement is to describe the policy of the State Board of Private Academic Schools (the Board) concerning the recognition by the Board of credentials issued by certain Montessori organizations that will be allowable for purposes of serving as a nursery school or kindergarten teacher in a school which follows the Montessori philosophy.
This policy applies to Montessori schools licensed under 22 Pa. Code Chapter 53, Nursery and Kindergarten, which follow the Montessori philosophy and curriculum and utilize Montessori materials in their teaching. Teachers who are graduates of an approved 4-year college or university and submit documentary evidence of an early childhood credential from AMS, AMI, or a MACTE (Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education) accredited Montessori Teacher Education Program with a minimum of 300 hours including a practicum may teach in a Montessori school as described above with approval by the Department of Education. Furthermore, teachers holding such credentials will not be required to obtain a professional or private academic school teaching certificate. Teachers thus credentialed are not qualified to teach in a non-Montessori private academic school and must otherwise apply for certification under 22 Pa. Code § 53.21 to do so.
This policy will be posted on the PA Department of Education website at some point in the near future and PA Montessori schools will be informed of this new change.
We are so grateful to Denise Monnier and Vyju Kadambi of the Montessori Public Policy Initiative who guided our work and helped us finally present our request to the board with a unified voice for Montessori in the Commonwealth. Thank you to Mary Ann Jackson for initiating the idea to approach the Private Academic School Board and to everyone who supported us along the way.
Stay tuned for alerts about future work with the Department of Education to suggest additional Montessori credential recognition in the Commonwealth of PA.
Pennsylvania Montessori Alliance – Recent Work
January 2025 Montessori Credential Update
After months of meetings with representatives from the Montessori Public Policy Initiative (MPPI), Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE) and others, PMA submitted a revised recommended draft policy to the Private Academic School Board (PASB) for reconsideration along with answers to questions they posed regarding implementation. The PASB discussed the proposal with Private Academic School certification staff and attorneys of the board and several questions were raised regarding how the department will oversee the new policy once it is implemented. The PASB now believes they have enough information to provide implementation of the policy and will vote on the policy at their January meeting this Friday 1/17/2025. Details regarding the meeting link and location will be forthcoming. The policy would allow Montessori credentialed teachers with 4-year college degrees (details regarding credential requirements will be shared after the vote) to teach in private Montessori schools in PA without obtaining an additional Private Academic School certification also. The Montessori credential will not allow these teachers to teach in non-Montessori schools.
This is a momentous occasion for the PA Montessori Alliance and the entire private Montessori school community in the Commonwealth of PA. The acceptance of this policy could also open doors to work toward further recognition to help Montessori educators in public and charter schools as well in the future. Please note: To be PA Private Academic certified, teachers would still need to meet the existing regulations.
See our Advocacy page for the timeline of our PASB Montessori Credential recognition work over the past year that led to this accomplishment. We thank Mary Ann Jackson who first presented and worked on this idea and agreed to help us speak with one unified voice as PA Montessorians. We also thank Denise Monnier and Vyju Kadambi from Montessori Public Policy Initiative for being by our side throughout the year of negotiations and discussions. We could not have accomplished this without their support and the work toward unity in the Montessori community.
Stay apprised of future work by visiting our website and if you are not a PMA member, please join to support our volunteer work advocating for Montessori schools.