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Sec. 33.005.
(b) The school counselor shall design the program to include:
(2) an individual planning system to guide a student as the student plans, monitors, and manages the student's own educational, career, personal, and social development (2 TEC § 33.005)

This legal requirement supports the role of the school counselor in a group counseling session because the design of the program is tailored to specific students' needs around test anxiety and academic success. Although it is a group setting, students have been identified based off of individual need; therefore, the group's intended purpose is to guide each student to manage their individual and educational success as it relates to STAAR testing.

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EDUCATION CODE CHAPTER 33. SERVICE PROGRAMS AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

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EDUCATION CODE TITLE 2. PUBLIC EDUCATION SUBTITLE F. CURRICULUM, PROGRAMS, AND SERVICES CHAPTER 33. SERVICE PROGRAMS AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES SUBCHAPTER A. SCHOOL COUNSELORS AND COUNSELING PROGRAMS Sec. 33.002. CERTIFIED SCHOOL COUNSELOR. (a) From funds appropriated for the purpose or other funds that may be used for the purpose, the commissioner shall distribute funds for programs under this subchapter.

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A.9.a. Screening Counselors screen prospective group counseling/therapy participants. To the extent possible, counselors select members whose needs and goals are compatible with the goals of the group, who will not impede the group process, and whose well-being will not be jeopardized by the group experience (American Counseling Association, 2014).

This ethical requirement supports the role of the school counselor within a group counseling session because it is the responsibility of the school counselor to ensure that any group that is assembled has been pre-screened in order to ensure group success. The goal of group counseling sessions is to be effective. For example, if there are members of the group that are not pre-screened for Cougar Champions, the counselor could potentially have group members that do not fit the targeted demographic or that are not interested in the group.

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Installation of Hope: Students will complete this group with the belief that their toolbox will allow them to overcome any potential testing struggles and provide them with effective coping strategies to manage test anxiety (Yalom, 1995).

Universality: This group will provide ample opportunities for students to share their experience with testing anxieties, and through these discussions, students will learn that they are not alone in their test-related anxieties (Yalom, 1995).

Direct Advice: The main goal of the group is centered around a transference of advice from counselor to students, and student to peer. Through the use of the strategy toolbox, the counselor is providing advice and through reflection and discussion opportunities, peers are able to provide advice (Yalom, 1995).

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The main leadership style we will use when working with this group will be Participative Leadership. This style of leadership will be most effective in this group because we, as the counselors, will offer guidance, but will also rely on group input. This style of leadership will be most effective because group members are essentially planning how THEY will most be successful on STAAR testing. An authoritarian style of leadership would not be as effective, because group members need to take initiative and determine how they will most be successful, while being guided by the counselor.  In this style, group members tend to be more creative with their thinking and offer higher quality responses and suggestion. With this age group, group members still need guidance as to how they can best be successful, but they are able to be more independent and flexible. We as the counselors do not just want to provide students with a list of test-taking suggestions, and then be finished with the group. Our goal is to build them up so they feel successful and ready to take on STAAR testing, so they must have some ownership over the process, which the Participative Leadership style can provide (Cherry, 2022).

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Stage 1: Group members have already established relationships with the counselor due to the role of the counselor within an elementary setting (i.e. biweekly whole class guidance lessons). Additionally, group members already have relationships with their peers due to Thompson being a neighborhood school with low transiency and high retention of students year-over-year. Group norms will be established prior to the first group session in a whole group setting. Group norms will be reviewed prior to the start of each group session. Confidentiality will be reviewed at the start of the first session. Counselor will remind students that everything said in group should be kept within the group, except if a student is in danger. The nature of this group is not emotional, so there should not be many opportunities for heavy discourse. However, counselor will still remind students of confidentiality expectations.

Stage 2: Students will have specific tasks to complete within each lesson. They ultimately chose to be apart of this group, so most likely group members will be excited to complete group activities. However, if the counselor notices a group member is not participating, the step would be to have a private conversation with that student and create a plan of action to re-engage that student. The counselor will also provide students with a template of a toolbox during the first session. This will be an accountability tool for both counselor and students. The template will have six spots within it, and each time students successfully participates in group, they will be given a sticker to place in their "toolbox". The counselor has strategically built in opportunities for student self-reflection through specific questions and planned activities, which will be used as a tool to gauge their progress throughout the group.

Stage 3: During lesson five, the counselor will begin a gradual closure of the group. At this point, students will have their completed game plans and will be challenged to share the plan with family, teachers, etc. During this lesson, we will also begin to review progress that has occurred throughout previous weeks. Lesson six will continue a review of all strategies that have been learned and then students will get to self-report on a scale from one to ten, how ready they feel for STAAR testing. They will also have an opportunity to discuss their feelings prior to group closure.

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We will use this document in order to set goals as a group. It is helpful to include a "looks like" and a "sounds like" category, especially because of the age of the members in this group (8-9 years old). All of these ground rules will be a starting point for our small group, with the exception of two rules. We will eliminate Rule #6, due to the fact that the counselor will pick the third graders up from their classroom, so being on time will not be a problem. Additionally, we will rewrite Rule #9 in order to be more developmentally appropriate. Rule #9 will say "Group members will be encouraged to have an open mind and value other group member's contributions to the group."

The rules that are on this document will be the set of pre-determined rules that we work as a group to create a sounds like/looks like chart together. At the end of this set of rules, group members will be encouraged to look at the list, and add any appropriate or necessary rules to our list.

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Parents or legal guardians consent to grade-level specific school counseling programs and activities each year when they register their child for school. However, according to campus policy, the implementation of this small group will require additional consent because it is outside the scope of regular school guidance counseling programs.

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Once the finalized list of recommended students is complete, the counselor will invite all of the identified students to the counselor's classroom for screening purposes prior to the start of the group. The counselor will share with students the purpose and goals of the group and will discuss group norms for participation. The counselor will screen all students at the same time as a group.

After providing third grade students with the goals and purposes of the group, the counselor will provide a half-sheet of paper with a spot for the student's name and a thumbs-up (Yes, I want to participate), thumbs-sideways (Maybe I want to participate) and thumbs-down (No, I do not want to participate) picture. Due to the age of participants and nature of the group, students will be assessed in this way. If a student chooses the sideways thumb or the thumbs-down picture, the counselor will have a private conversation with that student in order to gather more information.

The counselor can ask the student if they need more information, if they need clarification, or what reservations they have, so the counselor can provide guidance around the student's decision.

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This small group is highly focused and planned after mining school-wide data and utilizing the campus needs assessment. As stated in the action plan, this group will not be open to any student who wishes to join, but will be based on counselor and teacher recommendation.

Teachers and administration will receive information regarding this small group through the weekly Thompson Times online newsletter.

Individual teachers who have students that the counselor has identified as potential group members will receive a document that has a current data snap-shot in which teachers can use to confirm student recommendation into the group.  At this point, teachers can also add in additional recommendations for students who would benefit from the small group.

Dissemination of information to parents is not applicable at this time. Once the teacher and counselor have confirmed members of the small group, parents will be provided with detailed information regarding the small group.

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Cougar Champions is a third grade STAAR prep small group comprised of At-Risk, Hispanic third graders between the ages of eight and nine years old. They will be taking the STAAR test for the first time and have been selected through counselor/teacher recommendation and MAP data to participate in a six week group around test taking strategies, positive self-talk, and calming strategies.

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Mindset Standards Addressed
M3. Positive attitude toward work and learning
M4. Self-confidence in ability to succeed
M5. Belief in using abilities to their fullest to achieve high-quality results and outcomes
M6. Understanding that postsecondary education and lifelong learning are necessary for long-term success

Behavior Standards Addressed
B-LS 3. Time-management, organizational and study skills
B-LS 4. Self-motivation and self-direction for learning
B-LS 7. Long- and short-term academic, career and social/emotional goals
B-SMS 5. Perseverance to achieve long- and short-term goals
B-SMS 6. Ability to identify and overcome barriers
B-SMS 7. Effective coping skills (American School Counselor Association, 2021)

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American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of ethics. https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2014-code-of-ethics-finaladdress.pdf

American School Counselor Association (2021). ASCA Student Standards; Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Cherry, K. (2022, October 22). How to lead: 6 leadership styles and frameworks. Very Well Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-styles-2795312

School Counselors and Counseling Programs, 2. Tex. Ed. Code. §  33.005

Yalom, I. D. (1995). The theory and practice of group psychotherapy. 4th ed. New York, Basic Books.