This book presents an overview of cooperative learning, details the uses for cooperative learning, integrates cooperative learning with competitive and individualistic learning, and suggests techniques for managing cooperative learning. Chapters in the text provide: (1) a history of cooperative learning and research on which the practice is based; (2) basic elements that make cooperative learning work; (3) a description of the essential components of a well-structured cooperative lesson; (4) various approaches to cooperative learning, detailing the strengths and weaknesses of each; (5) in-depth coverage of the social skills necessary to work effectively within cooperative learning groups, including assessment, evaluation, group processing, and the constructive resolution of conflict; (6) different ways in which cooperative learning may be implemented within a school, from single lessons to specific curriculum packages to specific strategies to a generic approach to learning; and (7) strategies and procedures teachers need to educate at-risk students, create a multicultural classroom, intellectually challenge gifted students, and show how the use of cooperative groups may be extended to all aspects of the school. (Approximately 225 references.) (LL)