About Dr. Marlene Barron

Marlene Barron, Ph.D., has spent more than forty years as an educator and Head of School.  She founded the Staten Island Montessori School in 1965, and was Head of West Side Montessori School in New York City from 1979 – 2007 and the co-director of their teacher education program until 2008. She also retired as director of New York University Montessori Teacher Education project.  During this time, she earned a Ph.D. from New York University in early childhood education with a specialization in emergent literacy. She shifted her focus in 2008 in order to expand her consulting role with schools and teacher education organizations forming BARRON INTERNATIONAL: Montessori Consulting Group.

As an international consultant, Dr. Barron works with education associations and parent groups in West Africa [Ghana and Nigeria); Kenya; Southern Africa (Southern African Montessori Association); Europe (Montessori-Europe); Korea (Korea Montessori Federation); Japan (Japan Montessori Research Institute & Rainbow Montessori Schools); China (Etonkids International Schools, East China Normal University, Chinese Montessori International); Hong Kong (Victoria Educational Organisation); Sao Paulo, Brazil (Graded School); Puerto Rico Department of Education; and the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Education. Her work has ranged from professional development workshop series on specific curriculum areas and assessment protocols to consultations on public policy, strategic planning, and school organizational issues.

She currently serves as a Commissioner for the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE), and chair of the AMS Asia Task Force.  Her many volunteer positions included past president and treasurer of the AMS board, chair of the AMS Research Committee which resulted in the Voices from the field document, and secretary/treasurer of the International Association of Montessori Educators (IAME).  In New York City, her volunteer activities included serving as Treasurer of the Independent Schools Admissions Association of New York (ISAAGNY) and co-chair of the LPOS coalition of NYC Agency for Child Development programs.  She earned the 1995 Outstanding Dissertation Award by the American Montessori Society and was honored for Outstanding Contribution in the Field Of Early Childhood Education 1992 by The Montessori Teachers Association of Pennsylvania and as Leader in Educational Excellence 1988 by St. Albans Montessori in New York.

Dr. Barron’s books –– Ready, Set Read and Write, Ready, Set Count, Ready, Set Explore, and Ready, Set Cooperate –– are part of the Ready, Set, Learn parent series (1995/1996).  Her previous book, I Learn to Read and Write the Way I Learn to Talk: A Very First Book about Whole Language, is published by Richard C. Owen in English (1990) and Spanish (1993). In addition to numerous articles, she has written two books for Montessori teachers, Sensorial Ideas and Recording and Reporting: A Comprehensive Recordkeeping System for Early Childhood. These books have been translated into Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.