As schools move closer to the goal of providing education for all children within inclusive classrooms and schools, increasing amounts of attention and energy are being devoted to developing pedagogical approaches that are appropriate in heterogeneous classrooms. It has become clear that physical inclusion of students with disabilities in the classroom is not sufficient to ensure they will develop meaningful relationships with others. Teachers must structure the educational and social environment so that students develop the skills and attitudes required to interact across perceived differences and disabilities. Teachers who are working in inclusive classrooms are eager to develop modes of instruction that do not isolate and stigmatize learners with different needs: "Everyone write your book reports, and Michael, come over here and draw a picture" is an approach that not only separates children unnecessarily, but also denies all children the opportunity to learn and interact with others in ways that will enhance their academic and social growth. The realization that complete individualization is not a practical or even desirable solution to meeting the diverse needs of children within a single classroom has led many inclusion advocates to promote cooperative learning as the pedagogy of choice.
One of the principles of cooperative learning is the principle of heterogeneous grouping. Cooperative learning advocates support the idea that diversity is something to be worked with, not negotiated around, and that the richness of the educational experience is improved for all students when they are active participants in a mutually supportive environment.
Cooperative learning has been used extensively within "regular education" classrooms and "special education" classrooms, but because "inclusive classrooms" are a relatively recent phenomenon, there has not been extensive documentation of the use of cooperative learning strategies within classrooms that serve a range of students within the same environment. Many of those who teach about and promote cooperative learning are also products of and still work within an educational system that segregates and tracks students by ability and prepares teachers for this dual system; therefore, they may still identify themselves as "regular education teachers" or "special education teachers."
Putting the principles of cooperative learning together with the principles of inclusion involves extending the concept of heterogeneous grouping beyond more common notions of children who read at different levels or are at different math skill levels to thinking about and planning for students whose disabilities are more extensive (Sapon-Shevin, 1990, 1991). Sharing students' labels does little to help us plan for them educationally; educational programming is maximized by looking at students' abilities and gifts and by describing their educational needs in descriptive rather than evaluative ways. However, because many children are currently labeled (e.g., "severely handicapped," "cognitively delayed," "physically handicapped") and we do believe that children with labels should be and can be included in cooperative learning activities, we identify children’s specific educational and physical limitations and needs so that it is clear to the reader that we are, in fact, talking about all children. Cooperative learning makes sense in inclusive classrooms because it builds upon heterogeneity and formalizes and encourages peer support and connection. Most authors continue to recommend use of cooperative learning for social reasons, including (a) positive group interactions, (b) positive feelings about peers and school, (c) cooperation, and (d) improved self-esteem. Cooperative learning groups occurred for 40 min four times per week during social studies. Students were again seated in assigned groups of 4 at desks arranged in a table format. Each group contained an academically high-functioning peer, 2 peers functioning at a moderate level, and 1 peer functioning at a low level. In two of the groups, the low functioning student was a target student with autism. The intervention sessions consisted of an initial 10-min whole-class lecture to present or review new social studies materials and information followed by implementation of the cooperative learning groups. Group activities consisted of (a) distribution of materials tubs, (b) key-word peer tutoring for 10 min, (c) fact card peer tutoring for 8 min, (d) a 5-min team activity utilizing either a worksheet (e.g., multiple choice questions or fill in the blank) or a research activity (e.g., find five facts about Johnny Appleseed), and (e) a 5-min whole-class wrap-up activity. In addition to lesson-related activities, a second component of the program was to encourage teamwork by the use of appropriate social skills and task behaviors. In this component, each student was assigned to a team role: materials manager, recorder, checker, or organizer. The materials manager's job was to identify all materials to the group, pass out materials to group members as necessary, and return materials to the tubs as sessions were completed. The recorder's job was to write down all information on a worksheet, read questions to the group, and fill in the group's best answer. The organizer's role was to make sure everyone did his or her specific job and finished all activities, and to check to see that all information on the activity sheet was correct. The checker was to fill out a group checklist noting their performance, with input from all group members at the end of sessions. All students were responsible for answering group-directed questions from the teacher (e.g., "Group 3, tell me four states in the Southwest region") during the wrap-up activity.