This response to HE 531 678 argues that, although there is evidence that accelerated programs designed for gifted children can be effective, most emphasize enrichment, not true acceleration. Enrichment is seen as appropriate for all students, not just the highest-achieving 3%. (MSE)

Reviews research on student grouping, focusing on these types: tracking; grouping within classes (reading and mathematics); ability grouping for just one or two subjects; and classes for the gifted and handicapped. Asserts that ability-grouped class assignment is the most harmful form. (KH)

Reviews briefly the research on achievement effects of the following: (1) ability-grouped class assignment; and (2) student grouping alternatives that would accommodate learning differences among students. Discusses instructional effectiveness of those alternatives and their potential impact on segregation. (PS)

This paper examines research on classroom programs for elementary school students who are at risk for learning problems. The full range of alternative classroom organization models designed to meet the needs of low-achieving or heterogeneous classes is explored in an attempt to discover which type of program is most effective and why. The goal of…

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)

The relevant debate is not whether students differ but what schools should do about student achievement differences. Some forms of ability grouping may be justifiable, but those who would group students should have the burden of proving its effectiveness, because the negative consequences can be serious. (SLD)

This book is about a set of alternatives to the traditional instructional system: cooperative learning methods. These are techniques that use cooperative task structures, in which students spend much of their class time working in 4-6 member heterogeneous groups. These learning methods also use cooperative incentive structures, in which students…

This report describes a series of ten research experiments over a four-year period on the Teams-Games-Tournament (TGT) instructional process. Chapter I explores reward and task structures used in traditional classrooms, examining their benefits and liabilities, and concludes by proposing alternatives that might provide students with more…

Achievement and attitudinal effects of three mathematics instruction methods directed in varying degrees toward accommodating diversity in student performance levels were compared in two randomized field experiments with third- through sixth-grade classes. Treatments included Team Assisted Individualization, Ability Group Active Teaching, the…

Reviews research on the effects of ability grouping on the achievement of middle school students. Found no or few effects of ability grouping for high, average, and low achievers in 27 studies. Alternatives to between-class ability grouping, including cooperative learning and within-class grouping, are discussed. (PAM)

Much study remains to be done to make cooperative learning achieve its potential as a primary format for teacher achievement of traditional and innovative goals. Commentary by Philip C. Abrami and Bette Chambers criticizes Slavin's position on the underlying mechanisms of cooperative learning. (SLD)

This paper presents a summary of data from one program, Success for All, that is in the process of making the transition from local pilot to national model. Earlier evaluations of Success for All in its original home, Baltimore (Maryland), have shown that it can be highly successful in increasing reading achievement among very disadvantaged…

Reviews research on instructional methods designed to operationalize the principal elements of Allport's contact theory of intergroup relations. These cooperative learning methods, which employ ethnically mixed learning groups who are rewarded for learning as a group, have had positive effects on intergroup relations and on the academic…

This research evaluated mathematics achievement and attitudinal effects of three instructional methods directed in varying degrees toward accommodating diversity in students' prior achievement. Two randomized field experiments of 16 and 18 weeks' duration, respectively, compared an individualized model, Team Assisted Individualization (TAI); an…

this paper reviews the research on cooperative learning methods, with an emphasis on understanding the complex changes that occur in both classroom organization and student friendship patterns when cooperative, integrated learning groups are used in the desegregated classroom. Cooperative learning methods explicitly use the strength of the…