This was a school where students, staff, and parents were happy. I was impressed by the physical setup of the classrooms, the calm demeanor of the teachers and the students, the children’s respectful attitudes by eurythmy, music, violin. I visited every classroom and ended up staying for two-and-a-half hours. “here was such a sweetness-there was a garden, there were mud boots outside of the door, children were singing, and I was taken by that. The Sacramento schools District Superintendent (2009-2013) described his first visit to a Waldorf school, before he began a committed campaign to bring the Waldorf philosophy to the Sacramento school system: They also accounted for the initial lag owing to the planned Waldorf progression in education. These results held across the subsets of African American, Latino and socio-economically disadvantaged students. Stanford found significantly higher positive student achievement outcomes on standardized state assessments by Waldorf students, greater engagement and significantly lower disciplinary action and truancy. Stanford used quantitative (or rigorous statistical) methods on a large dataset of more than 118,000 students, consisting of 23,000-24,000 students from 3rd to 8th grade over a five-year period. Stanford reviewed Waldorf student performance on standardized tests, engagement (love of learning) and rates of problematic behavior (resulting in suspensions) in the Sacramento Unified School District. Stanford University conducted a multi-year, rigorous analysis of Waldorf education that resulted in a 139-page report (December 2015).
But what do the experts say? Let’s find out. With over 1,000 schools operating around the world and a 100-year track record, Waldorf has stood the test of time. Linkedin Waldorf education has a lot of support.