Cooperative learning emphasizes collaboration over competition and celebrates individual and group talents, cultures, and ideas. This paper presents a research-based overview of the academic advantages accruing to at-risk students involved in cooperative learning groups, suggests how teacher educators can equip preservice teachers with cooperative learning interventions that facilitate teaching at risk populations, and provides guidelines that illustrate how successfully to integrate diverse students into cooperative learning groups. Suggestions are given for structuring cooperative learning experiences to ensure that constructive and productive work is completed by each individual as well as by the group, simultaneously promoting group interdependence and individual accountability among students. Preservice teachers' initial perceptions and uncertainties about their participation in a cooperative learning course project are discussed and recommendations for overcoming potential snags and difficulties in preservice implementation are suggested. Comparisons between cooperative and traditional learning groups and key elements of cooperative learning are presented in tabular form. (Contains 26 references.) (LL)