Incentive Plans Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Incentive Plans Paper - Essay Example However, all incentive plans are not equally effective. The effectiveness and efficiency of a particular plan is dependent on two major aspects – 1) organizational metrics which influence the performances of the employees and 2) the degree of customizability of the incentive plan (Bohlander & Snell, 2009). The incentive plans should be developed considering the actual needs of the employees of the organization. An effective incentive plan is likely to be transparent, objective oriented and measurable (Durai, 2010). In simple words it can be said that good incentive plan motivate the employees to achieve their individual goals in the organization and the collective achievement of the individual objectives enable the organization to achieve its overall objectives. The aspect of the relationship between the incentive plan and organizational goal is explained below in the context of a real organization. India based Adamas Consulting Pvt Ltd is a medium sized company that works in the content writing industry. It has clients that are based in US, UK, Australia and India. There are almost 50 qualified writers in the company. Performance of each and every of them is evaluated on the basis of quantity as well as quality of their writing. Projects that are accepted can be of different sizes. They are distributed on the basis of the domain of the subject and the qualification of the writers. Each and every project come with a certain point and this is determined on the basis of the number of pages that are to be written and time period within which it needs to be completed. Writers who work as permanent employees in the company have a target of 1200 points in month. On the other side, writers who are in the probationary period have to make at least 900 points per month. The incentive plan of the company says that in case of a permanent employee every point beyond 1200 points gives additional INR 10. However, in case of an employee who is in the probationary period every additional point gives only INR 5. The person who will make maximum points in a year will receive a special bonus which is equals to 25% of his/her monthly salary. The company is planning to add few more features in the incentive plans in near future. The main objective of Adamas is to make as much revenue as possible, because it has plans to expand within the current fiscal into other sectors. The company likes to get into the industry of web designing and internet marketing. As a result, the company wants to earn a significant volume of revenue from its existing business. The incentive plan is in alignment with this objective of the company. Adamas believes that the plan is motivating enough to make the employees work to the best of their potential. If the entire situation is analyzed keeping the present organizational objectives and goals in mind it seems that the incentive program supports the overall objective of the company. However, if the situation is analyzed from th e long term perspective it will be found that the present incentive plan may have a negative impact on the quality of services and this can hurt the relationship with the existing clients of the company. Writing is such job that requires enough thinking to make the best one. If the writers write for making more and more money only then the quality is likely to fall. This in turn will increase the number of revision request from the customers and hence time required to complete

Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Project Management - Essay Example ct 11 Task 3 Project [processes and procedures 12 3a) Critical elements of any successful project plan 13 3b) Reasons for the use of the critical path analysis and Gantt chart in the project 13 3c) Evaluate the use of the change control procedures throughout the project 13 3d) Description of the methods for measuring performance 14 Task 4 Conclusion 14 5 Bibliography 16 Figure 1 MNCI work breakdown structure 6 Figure 2 Organization breakdown structure for NMCI 9 Introduction According to Hellriegel (2001), a project can be described as a series of linked activities that are carried by an organisation and they are aimed at achieving a specific objective. Usually, these events are short term based and in most cases, all projects have similar characteristics. They involve a certain time frame of which they are expected to be completed and they are also characterised by some form of risk. In order for any project to achieve its desired objectives, it can be noted that thorough project ma nagement is a virtue especially in the implementation of various activities that characterise a particular project. As such, this report seeks to critically analyse a case study based project about the measures taken in execution of the project by Electronic Data Systems (EDS) with regards to implementation of the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI). This project was about implementing a new computer system to be used by the Navy Marine in the United States of America. The report is divided into three categories and these deal with different aspects involved in the execution of the project. Task one is mainly concerned with project management principles while task two deals with project organisation and people and task three is concerned with project processes and procedures. A critical... This research aims to evaluate and present project as a series of linked activities that are carried by an organisation and they are aimed at achieving a specific objective. Usually, these events are short term based and in most cases, all projects have similar characteristics. They involve a certain time frame of which they are expected to be completed and they are also characterised by some form of risk. In order for any project to achieve its desired objectives, it can be noted that thorough project management is a virtue especially in the implementation of various activities that characterise a particular project. As such, this report seeks to critically analyse a case study based project about the measures taken in execution of the project by Electronic Data Systems (EDS) with regards to implementation of the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI). This project was about implementing a new computer system to be used by the Navy Marine in the United States of America. The report is di vided into three categories and these deal with different aspects involved in the execution of the project. Task one is mainly concerned with project management principles while task two deals with project organisation and people and task three is concerned with project processes and procedures. A critical analysis about project management with regards to aspects related to NMCI’s overall performance will be carried out in order to establish if the project was a success or not.

Would you expect an increase in a minimum wage to help or hurt Essay Example for Free

Would you expect an increase in a minimum wage to help or hurt Essay Increasing the minimum statutory wage has much far-reaching implications . Research indicate that this has a major impact on the business, employment and labor market. Studies done on its impact show that the increase very probably leads to reduction of employment more so for the young and unskilled who typically get engaged in lower income jobs. So if the increase in minimum wage is not beneficial to the general economy, is it helpful to the labor force it ought to benefit? On a positive note or rather short term the increase will mean that the workers will have an increased disposable income therefore they will be in a position to meet their needs more comfortably than they did before the increase. On the other hand the increase is just minimal therefore it adds very little to the income of the workers in general. This method has been found to be an ineffective tool for poverty reduction due to such negative impacts which mainly affect the people it ought to benefit. (Neumark, D and Wascher, W 1992) An increase in minimum wage forces the employers to respond in certain ways, studies indicate that when minimum wages increase the employers often tend to reduce the fringe benefits for the workers and at the same time reduce trainings for the employees. They embark on a cost cutting measures so as to fill the gap created by the funds which go towards the increment. Such a move will affect the worker as he or she will enjoy less benefits. In a matter of fact they might continue taking home the same amount of money or even less due to reduction or withdrawal of benefits. The cost cutting measures may deny a worker a chance to progress in a career when on job training as a benefit is done away with. On the same note to manage the business spending the employer may even end up reducing the hours of work further reducing the wage. (Neumark, D and Wascher, W 1992) An increase in the minimum statutory wage may be a good thing in the short term, but it has a negative impact to the worker since the employers will have to act in a certain way to ensure that they continue to enjoy the same profits margin as they did before. Reference Neumark, D and Wascher, W (1992) Employment effects of minimum and sub minimum wages: Panel Data on State Wage Laws, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol 46

Relationship Between Consumption And The Self Essay

Relationship Between Consumption And The Self Essay Consumption has always been an important aspect of human society, in different ways at different times and in different places (Clarke 2003). The consumer revolution, the birth of which is a subject of debates (McKendrick claims to have discovered it in the eighteenth century England, Williams- in nineteenth century France, and Mukerji- in fifteenth and sixteenth century England), represents not just a change in tastes, preferences, and purchasing habits but a fundamental shift in the culture of the early modern and modern world. (McCracken 1988) The consumer revolution is seen to have changed Western concept of time, space, society, the individual, and the state. Western culture gradually became increasingly dependent on and integrated with the new consumer goods and practices, which appeared from the sixteenth century onwards; culture and consumption began to fashion their present relationship of deeply complicated mutuality.(McCracken 1988) In such a consumer culture, consumption has an important significance to the meaningful practices of peoples everyday life. That is, they not only make their consumption choices from the products utilities but also from their symbolic meanings. Basically, consumption is employed not only to create and sustain self but to locate people in society as well. However, from a critical point of view, seeking to create the self through symbolic consumption can also contribute to the enslavement of individuals in the deceptive world of consumption. The following paper seeks to explore the theoretical approaches regarding the relationship between consumption and the self. {In the postmodern world} Our Identity is moulded as consumers. (Sarup 1996, p.120) Living life to the full became increasingly synonymous with consumption. (Gabriel and Lang 1995, p.7) The construction of self in modern society is considered to be invariably linked to consumption. The modern society undoubtedly represents a consumer culture, where peoples life functions in the scope of consumption. (Firat and Venkatesh 1995) It is, peoples social arrangement in which the relation between lived culture and social resources, between meaningful ways of life and the symbolic and material resources on which they depend, is mediated trough markets .(Slater 1997, p.8) Hence consumption is of great importance to the allusive practice of individuals everyday life. Along with the creation and maintenance of the self, consumption is also employed in order to locate different individuals in society (Elliott 1994a). The various material goods that people buy, the ideals and beliefs they held show who they actually are and whom they identify with. Indeed, people consume various things not only for satisfaction of personal needs but also for creation of their self-creation projec ts (i.e. for sense of significance in their pursuit of being ), which may be achieved symbolically through mundane consumption. The validity of this is confirmed by a considerable amount of literature. Lang and Gabriel argue that whether one is looking for happiness, identity, beauty, love , et cetera, there is a commodity somewhere which guarantees to prove it. In McCracken point of view, different products embody qualities that reach beyond their attributes or commercial value, which means, they are capable of carrying and accommodating cultural meanings. Symbolically, people use these meanings in order to create cultural idea of the self, to obtain and maintain lifestyles, to represent social connections and to promote changes in society and the self. (McCracken 1988) In other words, people consume these cultural ideas in order to exist in this culturally composing world. McCracken (1988a, p. Xi) confirms the latter point: without consumer goods, certain acts of self-definition a nd collective definition in this culture would be impossible. Shopping is not merely the acquisition of things: it is the buying of identity. (Clammer 1992, p. 223) Sartre (1998) argues that The bond of possessions is an internal bond of being. (p. 588) He emphasizes on the idea that people come to know who they are trough what they possess. By actually observing their material possessions they structure and sustain a notion of existential self. The idea of seeing is of vital importance, because as Sartre states to see it is already to possess it. In itself it is already apprehended by sight as a symbol of being . Thus, when see a superb landscape, people are capable of obtaining a notion of possessing the given landscape, and then associating it with their sense of being . This idea illustrates how people acquire a feeling of existing trough window shopping alone. To have is to be concept is also asserted by Belk (1988) and Dittmar (1992). Dittmar (1992, p. 204-06) argues: Material possessions have socially constructed meanings this symbolic dimension of material objects plays an important role for the owner s identity. This suggests that material social reality in an integral, pervasive aspect of everyday social life, of constructing ourselves and others. Belk (1988) in his examination of the connection between having and being , states that it is a two-fold process working in both directions respectively. Not only do people place their self-identities into their possession but they also integrate the latter into their identities; that is mirrored in the so called self-extensions process (i.e. the extended self). As extension of the self, peoples possessions not only enable them to find their actual characters but to achieve or adjust their sense of continuity from the past. Thus, material possessions act as a capacity to manage individual s life in its current course. As stated above to have is to be but to have also means to belong . Richins (1994, p. 523) states, Possessions are part of the social communication system and are sometimes actively used to communicate aspects of the self. Undoubtedly, when obtain personal possession that expresses peoples individual sense of identity and their sense of belonging to a group and collective identity. Material things encompass symbolic meanings, trough which a bridging of the self to others in society is possible. Dittmar (1992, p. 11) states: The notion that we express our identity trough our material possessions, and make inferences about the identity of others, on the basis of what they possess, means that there must be socially material objects as symbolic manifestation of identity. Nowadays, people are able to use consumption symbolically in order to gain a considerable sense of belonging to various imagined communities (Anderson 1983) or different neo-tribes (Maffesoli 1988). Thus, people consume different products that add to the symbolic means of identification of the self, trough which they associate themselves emotionally with those sharing their lifestyles. (Gabriel and Lang 1995) Consumption, as it has been stated in the above paragraphs, provides people with symbolic meanings to construct their self and identity, but it also can imprison them to the superficial sense of self and the enduring consumption. Therefore, from a critical perspective, to have means to be enslaved. If I am what I have and if what I have is lost, who then am I? (Fromm 1976, p. 76) According to Fromm, seeking to obtain a sense of being trough having hides a risk of losing it since having may not stay permanently. Contrary, he raises the idea that people realize the self by giving and sharing practices, et cetera. To have contributes to peoples enslavement of their own possessions. (Fromm 1976) People become slaves (i.e. commodities) in the realm of goods (Giddens 1991). Faurschou (1987, p. 82) argues: {Postmodernity is} no longer an age in which bodies produce commodities, but where commodities produce bodies: bodies for aerobic, bodies for sport cars, bodies for vacations, bodies for Pepsi, for Coke, and of course bodies for fashion total bodies-a total look. The colonization of the body as its own production/consumption machine in late capitalism is a fundamental theme of contemporary civilization. The belief that people are capable of exercising their freedom through certain choices seems unrealistic. Actually, we all not only follow lifestyles, but in an important sense are forced to do so-we have no choice but to choose (Gidddens 1991, p. 8). Also, Elliot (1994b) states that the pleasure, more specifically the immediate one derived from numerous consumption practices may imprison people in the scope of addictive consumption. Gergen (1991, p. 74-5) shows some apprehension over freedom of consumption: Yet this same freedom ironically leads to a form of enslavement. Each new desire places its demands and reduces one s liberties. Liberation becomes a swirling vertigo of demands. Daily life has become a sea of drowning demands, and there is no shore in sigh. The will and eagerness to be more, to grow more, to accumulate more and more, and more results in suffering and self-destruction of the individual. The only possible way of letting go this degenerated cycle is to accept the idea that to be is merely an illusion. Consequently, people should let go of their will to be , leave alone the desire to have . Considering all that has been stated above in the current paper about relationship between self and consumption strongly confirms their cooperative coexisting within and in developed societies of the contemporary world. The consumer is seen as caught in a cultural project (McCracken 1988), which main purpose is to achieve a full completion of the self. The consumer machine provides individuals with the necessary cultural materials in order to rationalise their varying ideas about themselves and their social roles in society. All of their cultural notions are embodied in the symbolic nature of goods, and it is through their possession and practices that individual understands the meaning in his own life. As Kavanaugh states, individuals in a society create themselves or define themselves culturally through the objectification of {a culture s} conceptual models in centrally prescribed phenomenal forms (McCracken 1988). It is through the systematic endowing of the meaningful properties of objects/goods that individual satisfied the opportunity and responsibility of self-definition. The logic and directions of this process of self and world construction through the nature of goods has been increasingly understudied and since recently it has been drawn accurate exploration. But which still needs further examination.

Do the Friday the 13th films have more to offer than just gore? :: essays research papers

Do the Friday the 13th movies have more to offer then just gore? -=-=-=-=-=-=- If you have ever been to a Friday the 13th movie and thought that it was nothing more than ninety minutes of tasteless gore, you are not alone. However, the movies do have more to offer. In this horror series, there are many hidden messages. Although not everyone chooses to analyze them, they do play a role in the feeling people get when leaving the theatre or taking the video back to the rental store. The hidden messages in the films are presented differently, and have different meanings. The three most prominent messages involve having sex, doing drugs, and illegal drinking. If teens embark in any of the three, they usually die. Other messages include insecurity, swearing, taunting, trespassing, and smoking, but none are as prevalent as the first three mentioned. The enforcer of the hidden rules in the majority of Friday the 13th movies is Jason Voorhees (the killer). In the movie he was born in 1946. He lived in the woods close to Crystal Lake. In 1957, Jason drowned in Crystal Lake. Counselors were making out rather than paying attention to the swimming child. The body was never recovered, leaving speculation about Jason's demise. Pamela Voorhees goes insane, vowing to get revenge for her son. Many attempts to keep the camp running over the next twenty years end in murder, and the nickname of "Camp Blood" is given to Camp Crystal Lake. Though the nickname remains, the camp is finally set to reopen in 1979. A deranged Pamela would not let it happen, as she kills all of the counselors except one girl who finally stops the vicious attack, murdering her. The deaths do not stop, however, as Jason vows revenge for his mother. Although no proof is ever found of Jason, the locals derive that he has been living in the woods for over twenty years. Many people try, but no one has been able to stop Jason for good. The Crystal Lake murders are directly associated with young people and their flaws. Sex, drugs, and alcohol are always associated, with other character flaws inciting the murders. In the first two installments of this series, revenge plays a factor. Pamela murders to avenge the death of her son in Crystal Lake. In the second movie, Jason kills to avenge the death of his mother.

Amory Lovins’ Logic in Natural Capitalism Essay example -- Amory Lovin

Amory Lovins’ Logic in Natural Capitalism In the first chapter of Natural Capitalism, author Amory Lovins proposes a new method of capitalism that recognizes the importance of natural and human capital in the industrial system. Conventional capitalism places value only on capital that yields financial gain, and ignores the human and natural parts of the equation. Lovins points to this as the reason for many of the environmental, social, and economic problems on our planet today. He argues that the destructive practices of conventional capitalism must cease, and that a new industrial revolution must happen that will change how human beings support themselves and sustain the resources of the planet. In this chapter he offers suggestions as to how to implement such a revolution. The chapter opens with a passage describing an idealistically perfect world. In this utopian society, unemployment no longer exists and the demand for welfare has dropped. Oil only costs five dollars per barrel due to the discovery of alternate fuel sources. Lovins paints a picture of a world that everyone would like to live in, and says that such a clean world can become a reality if people read his book and follow the suggestions within. He also describes all the bad things happening in the world as a result of conventional capitalism and what will happen if governments and corporations continue on the present path. Lovins explains the relationship between the dwindling amount of natural resources, and the companies that exhaust them for financial gain without concern for sustaining the ecosystem of the planet. The resulting social problems such as poverty, malnutrition, and anarchy are of no concern to the corporations... ...emotional rhetoric than it needs. This chapter is heavily spiced with emotional appeal to sway readers without really delving into the actual argument. The entire opening paragraph and the first few pages contain nothing but emotional appeal. Lovins uses rhetoric designed to sway the emotions of the reader with the utopian scenario that he promises will come from changing the current capitalistic practices, and the vivid descriptions of the horrors of our environmental crisis. However, one should not assume that this chapter is merely emotional persuasion. Lovins bases his argument on rational logic and his informational sources are distinguished experts in their field. He makes a strongly supported claim and his words give me food for thought. I believe it would be wise for people to listen to the logical claim that Lovins presents and follow his suggestions.

A Teacher Fosters Social Competence with Cooperative Learning

To cite this article: Magnesio, S. & B. Davis. A Teacher Fosters Social Competence With Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing. Kagan Online Magazine, Fall/Winter 2010. www. KaganOnline. com Miss Mag, do we have to work in groups? † â€Å"Miss Mag, I can’t work with him. † â€Å"Miss Mag, can I work alone? † Dodgeball tactics—duck, dart, and flee—seemed to be the game plan in my classroom whenever I wanted my students to work in groups. â€Å"Just try to work together! † I would say again and again. As a new teacher, I was shocked to find that most of my students didn’t know how to work in a group. Many of my 4th-grade students had been together since kindergarten, yet they interacted as strangers. They struggled to keep their heads above water when it came to social skills and group work. And I was drowning, treading back and forth, student to student, trying to keep up. Week after week, I found myself spending more time talking about being team players and working together than I spent teaching multiplication strategies and writing good leads. My soapbox was becoming old and worn, and I was overwhelmed and tired. Week after week, I found myself spending more time talking about being team players and working together than I spent teachingmultiplication strategies and writing good leads. My soapbox was becoming old and worn, and I was overwhelmed and tired. Many teachers experience challenges when they place students in a group and expect them to cooperate. As Johnson and Johnson (1990) point out, â€Å"Simply placing students in groups and telling them to work together does not, in and of itself, produce cooperation† (p. 29). Trying to get students to work cooperatively was one of the most frustrating aspects of my first two years of teaching. The easy solution would have been to throw my hands up and say, â€Å"These kids just can’t work together! † I could have given in and assigned individual projects and allowed the students to work alone and be done with it. However, I was learning about cooperative learning structures (Kagan & Kagan, 2009) in a graduate mentoring and induction program for beginning teachers, and I wondered if these structures would work in my classroom. This wondering became the focus of a classroom-based research project I conducted as part of the graduate program. I hoped this study would help my students build positive social skills and become successful working together. In particular, I wanted them to listen to each other, to solve problems collaboratively, and to teach one another. I focused my inquiry project on the following questions: 1) How does a structural approach to cooperative learning influence the social skills of 4th graders? 2) How do cooperative learning structures influence awareness of others’ feelings and encourage appropriate choices in social settings? , and 3) What influence do student reflections have on social interactions? Related Literature Cooperative learning has been defined as groups of students working together to complete a common task (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 2002). Numerous studies have measured the success of cooperative learning as an instructional method regarding social skills development and student achievement across all levels, from primary grades through college. The general consensus is that cooperative learning can, and usually does, result in positive student outcomes in all areas (Johnson & Johnson, 1990; Kagan & Kagan, 2009; Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001; Slavin, 1996). Social interaction theory (Piaget, 1970; Vygotsky, 1978) and motivational theory (Maslow, 1954) both help explain the effectiveness of cooperative learning. Social interaction theory views learning as a social activity in which people learn by listening and talking to others. As Kauchak and Eggen (2007) explain: Piaget views this social interaction as a catalyst for students to reevaluate their own beliefs about the world; Vygotsky sees social interaction as a vehicle for more knowledgeable people to share their expertise with others. In both instances, students learn by listening and talking. (pp. 305-306) In his theory of motivation, Maslow (1954) described a hierarchy of needs that moves from lower needs (e. g. , hunger, safety) to higher needs (e. g. , esteem, belonging). He argued that people strive to meet their lower needs before attempting to meet the higher needs. In Kagan Cooperative Learning, Kagan and Kagan (2009) explain the relationship between Maslow’s motivation theory and the effectiveness of cooperative learning: If students do not feel safe and included, their energy is directed to meeting those deficiency needs and is not free to meet the need to know and understand. . . . When we put cooperative learning in place the need for safety is satisfied through social norms (no put downs; disagreeing politely). The need for inclusion is satisfied through teambuilding and classbuilding. . . . With the needs of safety and security satisfied, the students have more free energy to move up the hierarchy, striving for esteem and knowledge. (p. 4. 13) Moreover, in many classrooms, the majority of interactions are teacher-student, which can create a competitive environment as students vie for the teacher’s approval. Cooperative learning helps balance this environment by encouraging students to work together to achieve learning goals. As Kagan and Kagan (2009) point out, â€Å"We live in an interdependent world in which, somewhat paradoxically, the ability to compete depends on the ability to cooperate† (p. 1. 18). Several prominent researchers have developed various models of cooperative learning. For example, two brothers, David and Roger Johnson, created the Learning Together and Student Controversy models (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 2002); Robert Slavin (1996) developed the Jigsaw II and Student Teams-Achievement Division models; and Spencer Kagan (1994) developed the Structural Approach to cooperative learning. Although different, these models each contain four defining elements of effective group interactions: 1) positive interdependence, 2) individual accountability, 3) equal participation, and 4) simultaneous interaction. Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec (2002) include a fifth element—group processing. Numerous practitioner studies have examined the impact of cooperative learning on student achievement and social skills development. For example, Nesbit and Rogers (1997) describe the benefits of integrating cooperative learning with science, reading, and writing instruction. Using several of the different cooperative learning models, the authors found that each method was successful in helping students work together in science to solve problems while using the tools of reading and writing. They suggested, however, that teachers begin with the Kagan structural approach before attempting the more complicated models of cooperative learning. Similarly, Muth (1997) found that cooperative learning could be used effectively during mathematics instruction to increase student comprehension of word problems, as well as to help them develop problem-solving skills. In the article â€Å"Using Cooperative Learning To Improve Reading and Writing in Mathematical Problem Solving,† she provides examples of how to implement cooperative learning in the mathematics classroom. Based on her experiences, Muth concludes that cooperative learning can improve reading and writing, as well as interpersonal skills, during mathematics instruction, particularly when students are working on problem-solving strategies. Bromley and Modlo (1997) found that cooperative learning helped maximize student learning in language arts instruction. A descriptive study of four teachers who implemented the Kagan Structural Approach during reading and writing instruction demonstrated the following benefits: 1) higher level thinking, 2) better communication between students, and 3) positive social relations. More recently, Law (2008) conducted two separate experimental studies on the effects of cooperative learning on 2nd-graders’ motivation and comprehension of text. In the first study, students in cooperative learning groups (n = 160) were compared with their counterparts in traditional instruction groups (n = 107). The results showed a significant difference between the two groups, with more favorable perceptions of teachers’ instructional practices and better reading comprehension in the experimental groups than in the control groups. In the second study, 51 second-graders participated in the instructional intervention program (cooperative learning). The results showed that students’ positive cooperative behavior and attitudes were related to their motivation and reading comprehension. When students perceived that their peers were willing to help each other and were committed to the group, they tended to be more motivated and performed better in reading comprehension. Numerous school-based studies in various grade levels have investigated the effects of using the Kagan Structural Approach to cooperative learning (Cline, 2007; Dotson, 2001; Howard, 2006; Murie, 2004). Consistently, these studies have shown positive effects on student achievement, attitudes, and engagement. Cline, for example, investigated the effects of using Kagan cooperative learning structures in her 5th-grade classes. During the 16-week study, she implemented the structures (e. g. , RallyCoach, RoundTable) during guided practice in one math class; in a comparison group, she used a more traditional method of instruction (e. g. , students working alone). Data collected from pre- and posttests revealed that the experimental group outperformed the comparison group on all measures of math achievement. Several studies have focused on the role of the teacher in implementing cooperative learning (Ding, Li, Piccolo, & Kulm, 2007; Leonard & McElroy, 2000; Lotan, 2003; Siegel, 2005). These studies concluded that the teacher’s decisions about how group tasks are set up, as well as his or her interventions during the group processing, are crucial to the success of cooperative learning in the classroom. In summary, findings from numerous studies demonstrate the positive outcomes of using cooperative learning throughout the curriculum. These benefits include improved academic performance, as well as enhanced social skills development.