Four literature reviews found that cooperative learning methods using group rewards and individual accountability consistently increase student achievement more than control methods in elementary and secondary classrooms. More research is needed to gauge cooperative learning's effectiveness at senior high and college levels and for instilling…

Research evidence shows that cooperative learning strategies are not equally effective, though most positively affect self-esteem, intergroup relations, and the ability to work with others. To produce achievement gains, these methods must include both a group goal and individual accountability. Includes 19 references. (MLH)

Cooperative learning can benefit all students, whether "average," low-achieving, gifted, or mainstreamed. Teachers trained at the University of Minnesota's Cooperative Learning Center expect to see students in small, heterogeneous groups using special skills and caring about each others' learning. Tips on cooperative spelling groups are…

Suggests ways to minimize the negative effects of extrinsic group rewards in cooperative classrooms, explains how to use intrinsic rewards, and outlines conditions calling for extrinsic rewards. The "social rewards" of working cooperatively probably enhance intrinsic motivation and are among the great advantages of employing cooperative…

High-ability students benefit academically from cooperative learning groups and are unimpeded by the presence of low- and medium-achieving peers. In such groups, high-ability students initially explain the material being studied and how to complete the assignment. Cognitive restructuring fosters a more thorough grasp of the material and its…

Effective heterogeneous cooperative learning helps students grow academically, socially, and emotionally. Within heterogeneous groups, teachers can differentiate tasks by complexity and quantity, use high-achieving students' ideas, enhance individualized work, plan challenging peer-tutoring assignments, add enrichment options, vary criteria for…

Research has shown that the classroom social environment is a chief psychological determinant of academic learning. A recent study showed students who gave their classrooms high ratings on cohesion, challenge, satisfaction, and absence of friction and favoritism on the Learning Environment Inventory achieved more academically, had better attitudes…

Staff at a Louisville, Kentucky, school have created a caring community of learners whose members feel valued, personally interconnected, and committed to everyone's growth and learning. Child Development Project schools emphasize warm, supportive, and stable relationships; constructive learning; intrinsic motivation; a challenging curriculum; and…

For enhancing student achievement, the most successful cooperative learning approaches have incorporated two key elements: group goals and individual accountability. Positive effects have been consistently found on outcomes such as self-esteem, intergroup relations, acceptance of academically handicapped students, attitudes toward school, and…

In a four-year, longitudinal study conducted between 2000 and 2004, the author followed 700 students as they progressed through three high schools: a diverse, urban school as well as two suburban schools. Although incoming freshmen at the urban school scored significantly lower in mathematics than incoming students at the two suburban schools, by…