Cooperative learning and peer acceptance of students with learning disabilities.
The effects of cooperative learning on 417 regular-education students, acceptance of 41 of their special-education classmates were examined in an 8-month study. The participants were in Grades 5-8 in 21 classes in 2 U.S. schools. The 3 conditions were cooperative learning and competitive learning, taught by the same teachers, and competitive learning, taught by a random sample of teachers. In October and in May, the regular-education students rated each classmate's desirability as a work partner. The students' peer ratings were generally very stable, for both their regular-education classmates and their special-education classmates. Positive changes in peer ratings for both types of classmates occurred more frequently in the cooperative-learning condition than in the competitive-learning conditions.
Putnam
J
J
School of Education, University of Maine at Presque Isle, USA.
Markovchick
K
K
Johnson
D W
DW
Johnson
R T
RT
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology; D004519:Education, Special; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D008282:Mainstreaming, Education; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012919:Social Behavior; D012963:Sociometric Techniques