A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Number 1

June 1992

Cooperative Learning

WHAT IS IT? Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement.

WHY USE IT? Documented results include improved academic achievement, improved behavior and attendance, increased self-confidence and motivation, and increased liking of school and classmates. Cooperative learning is also relatively easy to implement and is inexpensive.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Here are some typical strategies that can be used with any subject, in almost any grade, and without a special curriculum:

Group Investigations are structured to emphasize higher-order thinking skills such as analysis and evaluation. Students work to produce a group project, which they may have a hand in selecting.
STAD (Student Teams-Achievement Divisions) is used in grades 2-12. Students with varying academic abilities are assigned to 4- or 5-member teams in order to study what has been initially taught by the teacher and to help each reach his or her highest level of achievement. Students are then tested individually. Teams earn certificates or other recognition based on the degree to which all team members have progressed over their past records.
Jigsaw II is used with narrative material in grades 3-12. Each team member is responsible for learning a specific part of a topic. After meeting with members of other groups, who are "expert" in the same part, the "experts" return to their own groups and present their findings. Team members then are quizzed on all topics.

WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF SPECIFIC PROGRAMS? These are just a few of the successful programs available that use specially developed material:

Team Accelerated Instruction (TAI) in Mathematics: An elementary, individualied program that provides direct instruction within a cooperative learning setting, emphasizing concepts, real-life problems, and manipulatives. TAI is for grades 3-6 and older students not ready for algebra.
Contact: Barbara Luebbe
Center for the Social Organization ofSchools
3505 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
(410) 516-0370
Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC): A comprehensive approach to reading and writing/language arts for grades 2-6 that integrates the latest reading research findings with the essential components that make cooperative learning so successful.
Contact: Anna Marie Farnish, CIRC
Center for the Social Organization of Schools
3505 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
(410) 516-0370)
Success for All: A schoolwide program for grades pre-K through 5 that strives to ensure that every child will be performing at grade level in reading, writing, and math by third grade and will be able to maintain grade level from then on.
Contact: Robert Slavin or Nancy Madden
Center for Research on Effective Schooling for Disadvantaged Students
3505 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
(410) 516-0274)
Finding Out/Descubrimiento: A science and math curriculum for bilingual Spanish-English students in grades 2 through 5.
Contact: Michael Chatfield
Stanford University, School of Education
Stanford, CA 94305
(415) 723-5992

WHAT ELSE DOES IT DO? Schools are using similar strategies with both students and teachers to do the following:

Develop and use critical thinking skills and teamwork;
Promote positive relations among different ethnic groups;
Implement peer coaching;
Establish environments where academic accomplishments are valued; and even
Cooperatively manage schools.

WHAT ELSE DOES THE RESEARCH SAY? More than 70 major studies--by federally sponsored research centers, field-initiated investiga- tions, and local districts examining their own practices--have demonstrated cooperative learning's effectiveness on a range of outcomes:

Student achievement: When two necessary key elements--group goals and individual accountability--are used together, the effects on achievement are consistently positive.

Improved relations among different ethnic groups: One of the earliest and strongest findings shows that students who cooperate with each other like each other.

Mainstreaming students with learning disabilities: Significant improvements in relationships occur between these students and other children in their class when these learning strategies are used.

Where can I get more information?

Harold Himmelfarb
U.S. Department of Education, OERI
555 New Jersey Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20208-5573
(202) 219-2031

ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management
University of Oregon
1787 Agate Street
Eugene, OR 97403-5207
(503) 346-5043

ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children
1920 Association Drive
Reston, VA 22091-1589
(703) 264-9474

ACCESS ERIC
1600 Research Blvd.
Rockville, MD 20850-3166
1-800-USE-ERIC

by Stephen Balkcom

Education Research CONSUMER GUIDE is a new series published for teachers, parents, and others interested in current educational themes.

OR 92-3054
ED/OERI 92-38
Editor: Margery Martin

This Education Research Consumer Guide is produced by the Office of Research, Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) of the U.S. Department of Education.

Lamar Alexander, Secretary of Education
Diane Ravitch, Assistant Secretary, OERI
Francie Alexander, Deputy Assistant Secretary, OERI
Milton Goldberg, Director, Office of Research

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