Intervention > Evidence Snapshot

Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD)
Beginning Reading

As of July 2007 no studies of Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) were found that fell within the scope of the Beginning Reading review protocol and met WWC design standards. Therefore, the WWC is unable to draw any research based conclusions about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) to improve outcomes in this area.

In the Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) model, teachers assign students to heterogeneous teams of four to five. Team members are expected to cooperate to master specific content in a subject area. Cooperative teamwork is used in a context of a routine cycle of instruction that includes direct instruction, guided practice, team practice, individual assessment, and team rewards for success. Students can earn points for their team based on their improvement over their past performance rather than their absolute test score. Recognition is given to the teams in the class that qualify for various levels of awards based on the team’s mean. A variety of rewards, such as certificates or free time, can be used. According to the developer, the cooperative study structure, individual accountability, and equal opportunities for success create an engaging instructional process and strong motivations for team success.

A group of closely related outcomes.

A summary of the effectiveness of an intervention in an outcome domain, based on the quality of research, the statistical significance of findings, the magnitude of findings, and the consistency of findings across studies.

Effectiveness Rating Key

Positive: strong evidence that intervention had a positive effect on outcomes.

Potentially Positive: evidence that intervention had a positive effect on outcomes with no overriding contrary evidence.

Mixed: evidence that intervention’s effect on outcomes is inconsistent.

No Discernible: no evidence that intervention had an effect on outcomes.

Potentially Negative: evidence that intervention had a negative effect on outcomes with no overriding contrary evidence.

Negative: strong evidence that intervention had a negative effect on outcomes.

For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for rating of effectiveness.

Evidence Tier

The Department of Education’s evidence tiers. For more information, please see the WWC Glossary entry for evidence tiers.

The percent of each characteristic is based on the sample size of all studies meeting standards that reported data on the characteristic.

Percentages below may not add to 100 percent.

Last Updated: July 2007

Related Resources

WWC Summary of Evidence for Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD)

Beginning Reading Evidence Review Protocol

See related studies

This intervention report was prepared for the WWC by American Institutes for Research under contract ED-02-CO-0022.

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