Student achievement and academic performance outcomes

Student achievement at the elementary level has become an issue of great academic and educational importance. This level of education is of utmost importance in order to ensure the effective future learning, growth, and adulthood of the children involved. It is therefore of great importance to ensure the highest possible student achievement at the elementary level. The literature has revealed, however, that there are so many components to the relationships among students and teachers at this level that it is difficult to determine precisely what is at the heart of students achieving better results during their elementary school careers. Some, for example, focus on teacher qualification, while others consider the relationship between the teacher and students in a classroom. One strategy, investigated by Bancroft (2010), is student collaboration. Although this is not a new strategy in terms of pedagogy, significant benefits could be derived in terms of focusing on elementary students.

As mentioned, Bancroft's focus in studying collaborative learning is on elementary school learners. In terms of background, she explains that cooperative learning is a relatively long-standing educational technique relative to others. Collaborative learning has been subject to research since the 1980s. One benefit of this is that the technique has already proven successful both within and beyond the classroom. It therefore follows that the likelihood of it succeeding for elementary school learners is high. What remains for researchers to investigate is how this technique should be adjusted for the highest level of effectiveness in the elementary classroom.

Bancroft (2010) also mentions that learners who collaborate in the classroom benefit not only educationally, but also socially. This is of vital importance to the students' future as both learners and adults in a world that has become increasingly diverse. In order to effectively function as employers and employees in such a world, it is important that learners understand diversity and interaction in a diverse world as early as possible.

In this regard, Bancroft's findings indicate that cooperative learning has significant benefits both within and beyond the classroom. By learning to work together during the education process, learners become aware not only of their interpersonal differences, but also how these can be used to the benefit of all the group members. In this way, learners become able to use their differences to the benefit of all rather than as a focus of discontent and conflict. The author therefore suggests that cooperative learning provides one possible solution to the many challenges teachers face in the classroom.

In this way, the author provides a convincing argument for this kind of learning. Learners who work as teams with each other and with their teacher become more confident than those who are required to sit still and listen in a more formal classroom. The only surprising thing here is that there are not more teachers who have implemented this kind of teaching and learning process in their classroom.

The implications of this study can focus on how elementary school teachers can implement cooperative learning in their classrooms. This can also offer a new way of establishing not only authority, but also mutual respect among teachers and learners.