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The Cooperative Classroom: Empowering Learning by Lynda A. Baloche Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1998 ISBN: 013360090-4 Reviewed by Celeste Brody Those experienced in cooperative learning might think that all the books have been written to guide teachers and prospective teachers in developing the vision and the necessary skills to create empowering, cooperative classrooms. But Lynda Baloche has just produced one of the freshest yet surprisingly comprehensive books for educators--novice and veteran--who "want to learn about the power of cooperation for high levels of meaningful inquiry, independent thought, and active and productive participation in diverse, democratic settings." Lynda Baloche draws from her 25 years of experience as a teacher at all levels of education, and she represents the eclectic but disciplined development among those teachers and staff developers who have studied over the years with the influential people in the field of cooperative learning. She learned from her own experiences and used the questions she has heard most often from teachers to organize her book: Why should I use cooperation? Where should I start? When, how and how much should I use cooperation?" and so on. The Preface of the book is one of the best advance organizers I have seen. She arranges this book as I organize my own courses in cooperative/collaborative learning (and my secret "ideal" book), and reflects some of the recent advances in the field of teaching about and learning cooperative group work practices. An introductory chapter provides the context for the power of cooperation in schools, the workplace and society. Part I: "Developing the Classroom as a Learning Community" begins with what is frequently lacking in books about cooperative learning and under-emphasized in teacher preparation programs--the "'big picture' view of classrooms." She includes a healthy examination of the basic theories in group structure and development and uses theory to focus on diversity issues, multicultural education and parent involvement. This section concludes with a chapter that concentrates on classic research and theory relevant to social learning and the importance of a classroom learning community. Baloche speaks quite thoroughly to the issue of tracking in schools. Part II: "Developing Small-Group Cooperation" begins by focusing on how to develop base groups and informal groups. I have also found that teachers new to cooperation like to begin mastering the dynamics of cooperative group work by using base and informal groups. These arrangements allow them to focus on their classroom management skills as they move to a deeper understanding of their students and how to reorganize their classrooms. This kind of understanding often proceeds teachers' willingness to take on what they perceive as a riskier, more complex process: revising their curriculum and learning activities. Formal learning arrangements require good group work skills on the part of the students and appropriate, complex tasks suited to cooperating, consulting and problem solving. Her approach to teaching formal learning groups includes the recognized elements of cooperative group work: building positive interdependence, learning interpersonal and small-group skills, reflection and planning. I appreciated how she frames individual responsibility for assessing student understanding. She reviews group structures and roles, reflective supports as well as tests, journals and portfolios. The book concludes with one brief chapter in Part III: "Developing Commitment to an Exciting Profession" which draws on the current thinking about educational change processes. The book has several important features that make it particularly friendly to both teachers and students. She introduces each chapter with a series of open-ended conceptual questions that help focus the reader's attention. Chapters in Part II and III use extensive scenarios that describe highly skilled teachers and classes from kindergarten through grade 12 in a variety of subject areas and integrative thematic units. These are rich and provocative materials for discussion and reflection by both preservice and inservice teachers. I particularly liked how each chapter ends with a section called "Working with Peers" that includes activities that have been extensively field-tested with a variety of inservice and preservice teachers. The goal of these sections is to "help participants (a) review chapter concepts, (b) begin to build a sense of community through significant interaction with peers, and (c) experience a working model of cooperation." Readers will recognize Spencer Kagan's "structures," activities from Jean Gibbs' Tribes, the Sharans' Group Investigation Model, Robert Slavin's Student Teams-Achievement Divisions, as well as other highly regarded and important approaches to cooperative learning. This allows teachers to become familiar with several approaches while considering the major concepts of the book. For those who are looking for a book that will work with kindergarten through high school teachers this one is appropriate. Secondary level teachers should like the rigor and attention to the research base on every issue as well as the scenarios that give ample insight into how to apply the concepts in the different subject areas. For those who are ready for more work in assessment--performance, outcome, authentic, student-centered and so on--this book provides a progressive and conceptually sound framework for assessment, but it does just scrape the tip the iceberg. To find one book that is so comprehensive in terms of theory and research while providing a structure for understanding and using cooperative group work, is unusual. I will use it with my own teachers next year and let Lynda know how it was received. Given the inviting tone of the book, I am sure that she will welcome readers' comments and insights.