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…

The research on beginning reading instruction for English language learners that provides several useful guidelines for policy and practice is presented. Research suggests that bilingual programs usually improve the English reading performances of English language learners.

Expresses the importance of scientifically based research in education reform and explains how to judge the validity of educational research. Describes control groups, randomized and matched experiments, statistical educational significance, sample size, and the difference between scientifically based and rigorously evaluated research. (Contains…

Systemic (top-down) educational reforms will remain limited unless they improve every teacher's methods and materials. Comprehensive or whole-school reform "scales up" effective schools until many more schools meet state and national standards. The federally funded Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration program provides a supportive research…

In the May 2001 "Educational Leadership," Stanley Pogrow wrote another article attacking the Success for All program and comprehensive reform. SFA has been highly evaluated in numerous studies and by 52 individual researchers. Pogrow is a competitor who believes his own program (Higher Order Thinking Skills) has been slighted. (Contains 9…

Academic performance differences among children from varied socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds are unacceptably large. Instead of waiting for U.S. society to solve its inequity problems, educators must prepare all children to achieve their full potential. Educators should think of all children as promising, use early-intervention strategies, and…

Schools can reduce special-education and remedial instruction costs by helping students succeed in early grades. This article profiles several prevention and early intervention programs, including Success for All, Reading Recovery, Prevention of Learning Disabilities, the Carolina Abecedarian Project, Comer's School Development Program, and…

Eight years of research show there is a way to improve race relations in desegregated schools: the creation of multiracial, cooperative learning teams in classrooms. (Author/MLF)

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)

Certain grouping arrangements in elementary and secondary schools appear to be instructionally effective for students, but the psychological drawbacks may offset any advantages. The relative benefits and disadvantages of within-class grouping and between-class grouping are discussed, along with the problems with ability grouping. (TE)

Team Assisted Individualization (TAI) in mathematics and Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) are among the best researched and most effective of all cooperative learning methods. TAI was developed to apply cooperative learning techniques to solve individualized instruction problems. Relevant research on both methods is discussed.…

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…

Reviews research on instructional practices that help at-risk students. The programs reviewed fall into three general categories: prevention programs at the primary level, classroom change programs, and supplementary/remedial programs. Lists general features that characterize these programs. (TE)

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)

Research overwhelmingly supports the usefulness of cooperative learning for improving the social outcomes of schooling, such as intergroup relations, attitudes toward mainstreamed students, and general positive relations between students. (Author)