The nine chapters of this theme issue show how, in diverse cultural settings, cooperative learning methods enhance learning and reduce frictions among learners. A second goal of these papers is to indicate how cooperative learning fits or doesn't fit in several societies. (SLD)

This collection of descriptions of research at the Center for Research on Effective Schooling for Disadvantaged Students opens with "Center Seeks To Improve Education for Disadvantaged Students," a discussion of the mission of the Center to improve schooling for the disadvantaged through new knowledge and practices produced by rigorous…

On the surface, educational tracking may seem like a useful tool for allowing students to work at their own pace, and to avoid discouraging competition, but abuses of the tracking idea have arisen through biased placement practices that have denied equal access to education for minority students. The articles in this issue explore a number of…

Current thinking of researchers from different disciplines about interaction among students in educational settings and the potential of peer interaction for learning and cognitive development is discussed. Topics of the eight papers presented include: potential outcomes of peer interaction, its nature, peer learning settings, and factors shaping…