Tribute to
Robert Edward Slavin
Robert E. Slavin was the Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University, where he focused on educational reform and the principles of cooperative learning. He was also a co-founder of the Success for All Foundation and has contributed to the field with more than 300 articles and book chapters on these important topics. (photo: © Will Kirk/Johns Hopkins University)
Robert Slavin Tribute
I knew Bob and Nancy for over 40 years. His unwavering dedication to educational reform and improving schools and society is well known, and what better way to remember his tireless efforts than to quote some of his own words, taken from a letter he wrote to me in December 2020.
"Your note reminded me of the wonderful time we’ve all had with cooperative learning, and are still having. Do you realize that in 1979, Nancy and I were not quite 29 years old? (That’s when Bob and Nancy attended the first IASCE conference, and stayed with Shlomo and me for a month.) That’s younger than our youngest kid today. We spend a lot of time with the grandkids, who live close by, and that is a great pleasure.
We continue to be fine, and incredibly busy. Nancy and our Success for All staff managed in a short time to make all of our services for children and for professional development work online, so we are riding out the COVID crisis, though it remains terrifying and limiting.
We are putting a lot of energy into tutoring, proposing a national tutoring corps of 100,000 teaching assistant tutors to work with disadvantaged kids who have lost so much from long school closures. We are talking to all the providers of proven tutoring models to assemble the capacity needed to provide this vital tutoring. Our tutoring initiative may or may not be enacted, but the effort to create it may have impacts anyway, because it is obvious to every educator, parent, and even politician that something dramatic has to happen for these kids as soon as schools open."
There’s no doubt that Nancy will carry on the efforts of their exemplary partnership, which is the best way of keeping Bob’s spirit and vision alive.
Yael Sharan
Memorial Tribute for Robert SlavinBy Neil Davidson
Dear CL scholars and practitioners,
Our cooperative learning team has lost one of its all-time greatest players! We were shocked and saddened to hear of the loss of Robert Slavin, who passed away from a heart attack at the young age of 70. He was the youngest member of our group of pioneers in cooperative learning.
I knew Bob for about 45 years, and in this tribute, I will share several personal memories of being with and working alongside him.
I first met Bob in the mid-1970s when he led a professional development workshop on Student Team Learning (STL). He introduced the STAD model, which harnessed the motivational dynamics found in sports teams and applied them effectively to academic learning. Bob's presentations were clear, logically organized, and highly informative, energized by team practice using the clever task of Quibblean Spelling. These same qualities emerged in his second presentation on TGT and throughout the many occasions I enjoyed hearing him speak over the years.
At one conference, both Bob and I served as plenary speakers, and during lunch, he revealed his "lesson plan" written on an envelope with only four or five short scrawled lines. With that bare-bones outline, he delivered a cogent, well-reasoned, and meticulously documented address.
At the end of the international conference organized by Shlomo Sharan in 1979, the International Association for the Study of Cooperation in Education (IASCE) was founded. Bob played an integral role in establishing the Association and demonstrated remarkable leadership for many years.
In 1985, the IASCE published a remarkable book titled "Learning to Cooperate, Cooperating to Learn." Bob served as the lead editor for this significant work, expertly compiling all the contributions. As editor, he was immensely helpful to me in revising my chapter on cooperative learning research in math.
Also in 1985, at our conference in Canada, the IASCE voted to form regional associations to engage large numbers of teachers and staff developers in cooperative learning. Bob and I went on to establish the Mid Atlantic Association for Cooperation in Education (MAACIE). Together with Frank Lyman, we launched MAACIE, which provided staff development opportunities for thousands of teachers over more than 15 years.
Bob served effectively as the third President of the IASCE, taking over after Richard Schmuck and Shlomo Sharan. Upon the conclusion of his term, he graciously welcomed me as his successor.
At an AERA conference, Bob received a well-deserved award as an Outstanding Young Researcher. He consistently focused on issues of major educational significance, showcasing his genius in designing practical cooperative methods and rigorous experimental studies to test their effectiveness. His program of experimental studies contributed significantly to the research base for cooperative learning, alongside the work of Shlomo Sharan and David and Roger Johnson.
A prolific author, Bob produced numerous high-quality publications. Among my personal favorites are his educational psychology text, theoretical papers on motivational frameworks for cooperative learning, his comprehensive analysis of theory, research, and practice in cooperative learning, and his insightful exploration of when cooperative learning increases student achievement.
Bob's intellectual brilliance was matched only by his kindness and passionate concern for all students' learning, especially those considered disadvantaged. "Success For All" became his motto, program, and mission, in collaboration with his wife and long-term professional partner, Nancy Madden, and their colleagues. Their multifaceted program targeted transformation across entire schools.
Bob and Nancy wrote a fantastic retrospective chapter for our recent collaborative project, the book on Pioneering Perspectives in Cooperative Learning. When I shared the publication announcement on March 13, Bob responded immediately, saying, "This is wonderful news! Thank you so much for doing this."
When Yael proposed a Zoom celebration for all the authors, Bob quickly expressed his willingness: "I would be happy to have a celebration on Zoom. Tell me if we can assist with this."
That was in March, and Bob passed away unexpectedly in April. We held our Zoom meeting without him, but his presence was certainly felt throughout. Many of us remember Bob fondly and with strong admiration, now joined by our other esteemed departed leaders, Morton Deutsch and Elizabeth Cohen.
I received dozens of messages regarding Bob's passing from well-known leaders in cooperative learning. Expressions of shock, dismay, and grief were prominent. As Elliot Aronson aptly put it, "What a terrible jolt! I will miss him both professionally and personally."
We extend our deep condolences to Bob's family, including his children and his wife, Nancy — his dedicated partner in cooperative learning and Success for All for so many years.
Spencer Kagan and I have had several discussions reflecting on the tragic loss of Bob. Please see the excellent article below about Bob's accomplishments, which was forwarded to me by Spencer. He described it as the "best article I have seen on Bob following his passing."
With sadness and great respect,
Neil
The Washington Post article by Harrison Smith discusses educational reform initiatives such as Success for All, which emphasizes cooperative learning as a key strategy for improving student outcomes.