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The Master Academy will help students, who are both economically disadvantaged and English Language Learners, build their study skills to increase their academic success. The group's purpose will be to help these students develop study skills and immerse themselves in opportunities to create goals, involve themselves in group discussions, and improve their academic success. The age level that will be focused on will be twelve to thirteen-year-old.

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After students have participated in the small group, they will have mastered the following ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors:

M 2. Self-confidence in the ability to succeed

M 5. Belief in using abilities to their fullest to achieve high-quality results and outcomes

B-LS 3. Use time-management, organizational, and study skills

B-SMS 2. Demonstrate self-discipline and self-control

B-SMS 5. Demonstrate perseverance to achieve long- and short-term goals

B-SMS 8. Demonstrate the ability to balance school, home, and community activities

B-SS 2. Create positive and supportive relationships with other students

B-SS 3. Create a relationship with adults that support success

(American School Counselor Association, 2014, p. 2)

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The information about Master Academy will be distributed in various ways for three different types of audiences. These ways include:

For students who are invited /participating in the Master Academy will get information through an invitation, flyer, a letter, morning announcement, and introduction meeting.

For parents of students who are a part/plan to be a part of the Master Academy will get information through email, a letter, telephone, or conference with counselor.

Faculty at the campus will get information from faculty meetings, flyers, email, counselor's webpage, and morning announcements.

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First, the counselor will analyze the data to identify the 50 students that will be invited to join the Master Academy. Once these students are chosen, they will receive a flyer to attend a meeting during their enrichment period the following week. This is where the next step in the screening process will take place. The procedure that was chosen to be used is called "TAP-In. "T is for tell student about the group, A is for ask student about his or her level of interest/commitment to expectations of the group, and P is for pick participants" (Missouri Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Program, 2015, p. 22). To fulfill the Tap-In process, the counselor will tell the students about the purpose of the group, the goals, the expectations, and encourage students to be a part of the group. The counselor will allow students to ask questions about the small group and make them aware that they are more than welcome to come to her office if they have any questions. The counselor will provide the students with a survey to complete at the end of the meeting, asking various questions about whether the student understands the expectations and rate their interest in the group. During this meeting, the counselor will be able to observe the student's behavior and gain information from the survey the students will complete at the end of the meeting to help determine which students will be picked for the group. The students who are not chosen will be asked to meet with the counselor one-on-one and be offered to either observe the group or receive the small group as a one-on-one with the counselor depending on the student's situation. This to ensure that no student feels rejected by the group.

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Parental consent is essential for the student to be able to participate in small group sessions. If students do not receive parental consent, they are not allowed to be a part of the group sessions. During the introduction meeting, the students will receive a letter that will be sent home with them to their parents. This letter contains information regarding the group and the benefits of their son/daughter participating in the group and a consent form for them to sign. This consent form will be due the following week. To receive student assent, a form will be signed by the student after the counselor has obtained the consent form allowing them to participate in the group sessions.

(Missouri Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Program, 2015, p. 24)

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The counselor will make the students aware of the ground rules at the introduction meeting and the beginning of each group session. The ground rules include:

1. Confidentiality

From student to student, students need to “understand that confidentiality cannot be guaranteed, but it is an expectation” (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015, p. 7). If a student breaks confidentiality, then they will meet with the counselor to discuss privacy and the reasoning of breaking it. The student will be reminded of the importance of keeping it. The student will also not be able to attend the next group session but will have to attend one session with the counselor one-on-one after school before returning to the group sessions.

From the counselor to the student, the counselor will only break confidentiality if the student permits to do so, someone is hurting the student, the student wants to hurt someone, or the student wants to hurt themselves. The counselor will make sure students understand that this is put in place to help keep the student safe.

2. Respect

Students and counselors must be respectful to others in the group.

During the first session, the students will be asked to brainstorm together to create more ground rules or guidelines that the students must follow. A ground rules/guideline hand out will be given to the students during this time with some pre-determined ground rules/guidelines and room to create other guidelines. Two columns will be used to identify what the ground rules/guidelines look like and sound like. This is an activity that can be done as a group.

(Missouri Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Program, 2015, p. 26)

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Small Group Ground Rules and Guidelines p26 Attachment

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During the Master Academy, one of Yalom's Therapeutic Factor that I would potentially see would be universality. Universality is "the demonstrations that we are not alone in our misery or our "problems" (Basic Books, 1995, p. 1). Since this group is made up of students who are both economically disadvantaged and English Language Learners, there may be some that share the same obstacles. This can help them realize that they are not the only ones on campus, going through the same challenges.

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The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) provides information on the school counselor's professional standards and competencies. The behavior that supports my role in group counseling would B-SS 1. B-SS 1 is the "design and implements instruction aligned to the ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors for student success in large-group, classroom, small-group, and individual settings" (ASCA, 2019, p. 5). This is a behavior that is being shown throughout the group session implementation.

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There are three stages within the group dynamics that the counselor is responsible for facilitating students as they move from stage to stage (Missouri Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Program, 2015, p. 7).

Stage 1:
Students will begin by meeting each other through an ice breaker. This will give them each an opportunity to know and understand each other better. Every session will involve time for the students to be engaged in a group discussion. Group discussion will give the students a chance to discuss the previous week, their progress towards their goals, encouraging one another, obstacles they have encountered, or brainstorming new strategies they can implement (Cook & Kaffenberger, 2003, p. 119). This will help build relationships with each other and build trust with everyone within the group. Throughout the sessions the counselor will model group norms and reinforce positive group norms.

Stage 2:
During each session, the students will be given the opportunity to involve themselves in group discussions and activities that will be with a partner or individual. The counselor will meet with the students one-on-one at each session to check in with them on their progress.

Stage 3
To close the group at the last session, the students will reflect on their progress from the first session to the last. They will create a summary of how they have grown, the tools they have learned, and what goals they have reached or in progress of the meeting. Then students will share their summary with the group where they will be able to receive positive feedback or encouragement. The counselor will facilitate and meet with the student one-one-one before presenting their summary with the group. The counselor will make it known that they are always welcome to come to visit with him/her if they have any questions or would like to talk to someone.

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The leadership style that fits this small group is participative leadership. I believe this style would work best because the counselor is the facilitator of the group's conversations and provides guidance to the participants. The counselor does have the final say but allows input from other group members. (Cherry, 2019, p. 7) This helps keep everyone involved in the group sessions and helps students feel important.

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The American Counseling Association provides information on the counselors ethical responsibilities to their clients. A responsibility that contributes to my role as a counselor would be found in section B, Confidentiality and Privacy, 1.d. Explanation of Limitations. This discusses how the counselor must inform the clients about why confidentiality would be breached. This would be discussed at each group session to remind the students of my responsibilities as a counselor.

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American Counseling Association. (2014). ACA code of ethics. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

American School Counselor Association. (2019). ASCA school counselor professional standards & competencies. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/home/SCCompetencies.pdf

Basic Books. (1995). Yalom's curative factors group treatment. Retrieved from https://blackboard.angelo.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-2239454-dt-content-rid-18975289_2/courses/12764.202010/12764.202010_ImportedContent_20191001111000/yalomscurativefactorsofgrouptherapy.pdf

Cook, J. B., & Kaffenberger, C. J. (2003). Solution Shop: A Solution-Focused Counseling and Study Skills Program for Middle School.      Professional School Counseling, 7(2), 116–123. Retrieved from    http://search.ebscohost.com.easydb.angelo.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ771107&site=eds-live

K. Cherry. (2019). Leadership styles and frameworks you should know. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-styles-2795312

Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educator. (2015). Professional school counselor small group counseling guide.             Retrieved from https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/guid-respon-serv-small-group-counseling-guide-2015.pdf