Published: January 1, 1997

Straight Talk

In 1994, ABC News compiled several education features that had appeared on World News Tonight With Peter Jennings into an hourlong, prime time special called Common Miracles. This special highlighted current movements in education and included interviews with some of the most significant researchers in the field. As the program was about to introduce a segment with Robert Slavin, the noted researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and expert in early-childhood education, the camera panned a small group of children working together on a project. The reporter's voice-over said, "Remember cheating? Today it's called cooperative learning."

Although the reporter went on to describe the many benefits of children working in a cooperative classroom, some parents may question any activity said to have a relationship to cheating. As a result, the term "cooperative learning" may take on a connotation that denies the benefits we know the technique produces.

If we ask parents whether they want their children to learn to work in groups, more often than not they say yes. If we ask employers whether they want our schools' graduates to have teamwork skills, they, too, say yes. But ask these same people whether they support cooperative learning in the schools, and the response may be much less supportive. Reactions to this specific strategy may be the result of the messages—often conflicting—that...