Just about everyone loves the "idea" of cooperative learning, children working productively and excitedly in groups, everyone getting along and enthusiastically helping one another learn. This article presents five strategies that teachers can use to get the greatest benefit possible from cooperative learning and ensure that…

In cooperative learning, students are typically assigned to heterogeneous teams. The Johns Hopkins University Elementary School Program uses four principal methods involving student team learning, including Student Teams-Achievement Divisions, Teams-Games-Tournament, Team Accelerated Instruction-Mathematics, and Cooperative Integrated Reading and…

Cooperative learning focuses group activity on preparing all members to succeed on individual assessments. Research findings show significantly greater achievement for the cooperatively taught class. Describes the elements of two comprehensive cooperative methods and proposes a model of a cooperative elementary school. (MLF)

Describes two reform models developed to promote cooperative learning and ensure student success: Success for All and Roots and Wings. The paper examines aspects of the Roots and Wings program, including Reading Wings, tutoring, early learning, MathWings, WorldLab, and family support. It also discusses how schools can adopt Success for All and how…

This study evaluated the achievement effects of the Team-Assisted Individualization (TAI) mathematics program over a 24-week period. Involved were 1,317 students in grades 3, 4, and 5, with 700 students in 31 classes receiving TAI instruction and a control group of 617 students in 30 classes receiving other mathematics instruction on the same…

Discusses how teachers can avoid problems associated with student competition in the classroom. Describes two instructional methods that involve students working together on learning tasks: cooperative learning and peer tutoring. Focuses on Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD), a team-learning approach. Includes a list of practical guides to…

This guide describes five types of student team cooperative learning activities: (1) Student Teams-Achievement Divisions; (2) Teams-Games-Tournament; (3) Jigsaw; (4) Team Accelerated Instruction; and (5) Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition. In Part 1, each technique is described in detail. A review of research finds positive outcomes in…

This manual provides descriptions of five cooperative learning methods: (1) Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD); (2) Teams-Games-Tournaments (TGT); (3) Jigsaw; (4) Team Accelerated Instruction (TAI); and (5) Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC). For each of these methods, an overview offers a description of the procedures…

This paper begins with a discussion of a theory of teams in general and then proceeds to a description of a program of research focused on a simple but carefully structured classroom team technique, Student Teams-Achievement Divisions, or STAD. (Author)

The purpose of this manual is to give teachers the information they need to use student team learning, which is described as a method to promote major academic and nonacademic goals such as improved basic skills, improved student self-concept, and better interpersonal/cross-racial relationships. Complete directions are given for three techniques:…

Student team techniques, involving two conceptually distinct components--a cooperative reward structure, in which students are evaluated and rewarded based on the performance of the group as a whole, and a cooperative task structure, in which students are encouraged to peer tutor--have had positive effects compared to control methods on academic…

Teams-Games-Tournaments (TGT) is a classroom program which addresses the problems of student values, student diversity, and basic skills. This article describes: how TGT works, its origins, research to date, implications for teachers and researchers, how TGT is used in the classroom, and new directions for TGT. (Author/SJL)

Focuses on how basic research on psychological principles eventually leads to practical classroom programs. A case study is presented of a classroom program based on psychological research. Inferences are made regarding the problems of transforming basic research into practical classroom programs. (Author/DB)

This paper describes a study which evaluates two classroom innovations directed at the problems of student motivation, academic performance, and social perceptions. These innovations, "Student Learning Teams" and "Academic Divisions," are evaluated in a two by two factorial field experiment in eight seventh grade English…

This monograph presents descriptions of six extensively researched and widely used cooperative learning methods and discusses research on the effects of cooperative learning. The term "cooperative learning" refers to instructional methods in which students of all levels of performance work together in small groups toward a common goal.…