A Meta-Analysis of Outcomes for Steiner/Waldorf and Mainstream Education

Despite being over 100 years old, empirical research on Waldorf (or Steiner) education has been scarce, with no published meta-analyses comparing outcomes to mainstream education. We identified 30 studies comparing outcomes for Waldorf ( N = 7,823) and mainstream ( N = 187,015) students, netting 40 treatment-control comparisons and 506 effect sizes, from 11 countries. Mixed-effects meta-regressions investigated the role of measurement, publication, sample features, and outcome (i.e., academic achievement, creativity, attitudes and emotions, school and classroom climate, and moral development). Overall, Waldorf students performed significantly better ( d = .216, after trim-and-fill, d = .369). Waldorf students had significantly greater academic achievement and reported a significantly better school and classroom climate, with differences in aesthetic creativity, attitudes and emotions, and moral development not being statistically significant. Given the comparative designs employed, further research using quasi-experimental and longitudinal designs is needed, both on the domains investigated here and further domains.