Cooperative Learning Boosts Math Achievement

I really liked the section of our text this week that discussed cooperative learning and decided to expand on that for my blog post this week. I found an article published out of Baltimore on June 24th called Cooperative Learning Methods Top List of Effective Approaches for Secondary Mathematics, Finds Johns Hopkins Review.
The Johns Hopkins Center has been conducting a massive project to find evidence of the types of programs and teaching practices that have been proven to improve student achievement. They then provide this unbiased information to educators so they can adopt the “... programs and practices most likely to make a difference with their students”. Their research suggests that “Cooperative learning methods have been found to be most effective in raising the math scores of middle and high school students...” Classroom organization is also mentioned as a means to “... maximize student engagement and motivation, rather than expecting that choosing one or another textbook by itself will move students forward.”
This week’s text clearly lists the benefits for students and teachers of cooperative learning. So I question why more teachers do not utilize this strategy. Maybe the time factor that it takes to master this method (Orlig suggests about one year or longer) is too daunting for teachers. Perhaps teachers feel that students will not make the academic gains they should using cooperative learning or that low-achieving students will not benefit from such close interaction with higher-achieving students. Another possible reason could also be that teachers feel that the level peer support and trust does not exist.
The benefits of cooperative learning are clearly visible through this study. Educators can see the full reports on the Best Evidence Encyclopedia web site for themselves. As the full effects of No Child Left Behind are felt in schools and administrators clamor for teachers to find ways to increase student achievement, I believe the method of cooperative learning must be more fully implemented in our classrooms.