I believe the only way to address this problem is to use a points system when you grade. At the very least, you have to weight different types of assignments differently. Make any collaborative type work count closer to a daily grade than anything else. Also, after lessening the impact of the small group project in the grade book, individually quiz or test students over the information and knowledge they should have obtained during the project. This will increase accountability if students know that it is an expectation.

When doing group work, have students to rate their peers. Give the group members I survey for each member and have them rate the helpfulness of that student. To keep the responses anonymous pull the student one by one and have them complete the survey individually. Also, tell the students you are making notes on the students who are working hard and the ones who are not. Also tell them points will be deducted from their individual grade.

Group work can be difficult to prove mastery. There will always be "that student" who does not pull his/her own weight in the project. You could make the majority of the assessment completed at school, so that you could monitor student interaction and participation. You should definitely allow the students to rate each others contribution. You should also have multiple assessments that prove mastery of a specific skill.

This is a problem that I have encountered as well. I have two possible solutions. First, you could add an element to the rubric that has students grade each other. Students tend to be honest doing this. Second, put your students who do not carry their own weight into their own group. Either some of them will step up to the challenge if they see no one else is doing the work, or they will fail because they have not shown the skills to pass the standard.

This is a good one. One of the teachers that I teach with created a rubric titled "fair-share." Each student in the group gets one and every student in a group grades everyone of their partners. It's a fabulous way to measure student involvement. It highlights their contribution and makes them aware of what they are/aren't doing. Students are more than fair when they grade their teammates.

Students are generally honest with themselves and each other. Group assessments in my opinion should be used with other types of assessments to show mastery. For the collaborative aspects of group assignments, have students rate themselves as well as each other for participation in the activity. A combination of both rating along with your observation and a simple individual assessment of the task should help to determine if the student has mastered the required skill.

I think that group projects are a good idea and allow for different assessment to happen other than the standard paper and pencil test or quiz. When I give group projects I make the project be a certain percentage of their grade and everyone in the group grades everyone else too. This allows for the other group members hold the others responsible for the part. If a student is not doing their part then they are given a lesser grade than the rest of the group for doing poorly on their part.

A solution that I have found to work well when I assign group activities, is to create defined roles for each member in the group. I allow them to chose the role they would like, however, once they select a role, they are held accountable for the duties and responsibilities of that role. I also include the responsibilities of the different roles into the rubric, so students will understand the expectations for their individual role, as well as, their overall group expectations.