Some of the best-known cooperative learning techniques were develop by Slavin and his colleagues at Success For All (http://www.successforall.org), which incorporates CL and other research-based, student-centered ideas. As the name Success for All implies, the program has a strong emphasis on empowering disadvantaged students. The best-known among the Success For All techniques is STAD (Student Teams Achievement Divisions).

STAD works like this:

1. The teacher teaches.
2. Students study together for a quiz on what was taught.
3. Students take an individual quiz on what they studied. Whatever their grade is on that quiz is the grade that goes into the teacher’s grade book.
4. Group members earn points for their team based on how well each group member did in comparison to their past average. For example, if Student A’s past average is 60, and they score 70 on the most recent quiz, they earn more points for their team than does Student B whose past average is 93 but only score 85 on the most recent quiz.
5. Possible non-grade rewards include recognition as a Good Team, Great Team, or Super Team. Many other possibilities exist, such as teams being asked to do their team cheers, team handshake, team dance, or showing off their team mascot.