Cooperative Learning and Literacy: A Meta-Analytic Review

We conducted a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of cooperative and collaborative learning to support enhanced literacy outcomes. Interventions considered were provided in regular education settings (i.e., not pull-out instruction) with students from Grades 2 through 12. Reviewing more than 30 year...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of research on educational effectiveness 2013-10, Vol.6 (4), p.339-360
Main Authors: Puzio, Kelly, Colby, Glenn T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bias
Cohort Analysis
Cooperative Learning
Effect Size
Effectiveness studies
Elementary Secondary Education
Grade 2
Grouping (Instructional Purposes)
Instructional Effectiveness
Intervention
Literacy
Literacy instruction
Literature Reviews
Meta Analysis
Reading Achievement
Reading Comprehension
Standardized Tests
Statistical Significance
Teaching Methods
Vocabulary
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Summary:We conducted a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of cooperative and collaborative learning to support enhanced literacy outcomes. Interventions considered were provided in regular education settings (i.e., not pull-out instruction) with students from Grades 2 through 12. Reviewing more than 30 years of literacy research, we located 18 intervention studies with 29 study cohorts. Included studies primarily used standardized assessments to report on students' reading, vocabulary, or comprehension achievement, which we analyzed separately. Overall, students had significantly higher literacy achievement scores when instructional interventions utilized cooperative and collaborative activity structures. The overall weighted mean effect sizes ranged from 0.16 to 0.22 (p < .01) with more than 94% of the point estimates being positive. Because cooperative or collaborative learning was always one of multiple intervention components, it was impossible to estimate the unique, added effects of cooperative/collaborative learning. Although the small number of eligible studies precludes any claims about the effectiveness of specific forms of grouping and the circumstances under which programs have more impact, our findings suggest that cooperative and collaborative grouping was a core component of effective literacy interventions, particularly at the elementary level.
ISSN:1934-5747
1934-5739
DOI:10.1080/19345747.2013.775683