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

American School Counselor Association. (2014). ASCA mindsets and behaviors for student success. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/home/MindsetsBehaviors.pdf

American School Counselor Association. (2016). ASCA ethical standards for school counselors. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Ethics/EthicalStandards2016.pdf

Cherry, K. (2020). What are prominent leadership styles and frameworks you should know. https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-styles-2795312

Hall, C. (2019). Demographics and needs assessment [Unpublished manuscript]. Angelo State University.

Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators. (2015). Professional school counselor small group counseling guide: A professional school counselor’s guide to planning, implementing, and evaluating school-based counseling groups. https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/guid-respon-serv-small-group-counseling-guide-2015.pdf

Yalom ID. (1995). The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (4th ed.). New York: Basic Books.

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American Counseling Association Legal & Ethics

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American Counseling Association Legal & Ethics

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Group work A.9.a.
In this ethical standard, the ACA covers screening concerns. The ethic states that to the extent possible, counselors must screen participants to adequately determine their compatibility with the rest of the group. If the screening is improperly completed, this will hurt the effectiveness of the sessions (American Counseling Association, 2014).

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Ethical standard A.2.
Confidentiality is extremely important in all counseling environments. Established confidentiality has both legal and ethical concerns. Counselors must develop a strong, trusting environment, and confidentiality allows the counselor to maintain that environment. Although confidentiality cannot be guaranteed in a group environment, expressing its importance and adhering to strict rules established for the group will help maintain trust. Explaining the limits of confidentiality is an important legal aspect as well. For example, if a student states he/she is being abused, the counselor is legally and ethically required to notify authorities (American School Counselor Association, 2016).

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After analyzing Yalom's factors, there are several that could come into play during the sessions.

Universality:
Universality states that people in the group share common issues. Because the group members are selected based upon their similarities, the members should share commonalities. These common issues will allow the group members to develop a bond, and therefore create a therapeutic relationship.

Interpersonal learning & Altruism:
Because members share common issues, they may have common solutions as well. For example, if a student is having trouble completing work at home, another member could share their strategies to solve that problem. In this example, the student providing advice may also experience altruism (Yalom, 1995).

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During these group sessions, the members would better benefit from a participative leadership style. In this type of leadership the leader participates and allows input from the members as well. This is the how the group sessions will operate every week. Group participation is key to the success of the group. The counselor could also use transformational leadership aspects as well. Transformational leaders inspire followers to make positive changes and transform their life (Cherry, 2020).

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Due to the group being homogeneous, one must address group dynamics to properly address the group.

Stage 1:
During this stage, the counselor must create an environment that normalizes their issues and create a trustworthy environment. In this group we plan to address academic success and culture.  During this stage students will discuss aspects of their culture, as well as their personal struggles with education. It is expected that students will bond over similarities and understand their differences. The counselor will facilitate these interactions, but encourage self reflection.

Stage 2:
To ensure that the group remains cohesive, the counselor will implement group activities and check-in exercises. For example, at the beginning and end of every session, the group will review what they have learned and what is still expected. The counselor will  monitor grade progress throughout the sessions as well to check for improvement. The counselor will also check in with teachers to determine their social progress as well.

Stage 3:
The final session will include reviewing previous objectives. Each student will identify one thing they learned about themselves and one thing they learned about someone else. Each student will also identify one aspect that they feel they still need to work on, and state how they plan to work on that concern. The counselor will review the session effectiveness by analyzing final survey responses, grades, and teacher perceptions throughout the year (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015).

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In the attached form are the ground rules for the group. Prior to beginning the sessions the group will fill out the form individually to determine their understanding of the rules. The counselor will review the answers and address any misunderstanding of the rules. At the bottom of the PDF, the students are given the opportunity to create their own rules for review. Each student will be given the opportunity to share their rules. If rules are broken, the student will be spoken to, to help understand why the rule was broken. However, If confidentiality is broken at any point, the offending student will be removed to preserve a trustworthy environment (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015)

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After collecting assent from the selected students, several steps must be followed. Parents will be contacted and sent a brochure detailing the intent of the group. If the parents agree to allow their children to participate, they will be required to read and sign an informed consent form in person. Attached below is an example consent form (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015)

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The first step to obtaining group members is pre-screening. Based on student success, including grades and test scores, candidates will be selected. Each selected student will go through an individual in-person meeting. This meeting will help the counselor determine the student's willingness and interest in the group. During the meeting, the student will be asked questions regarding their culture, other aspects of learning, and their willingness to open up about their concerns. Teachers will also be encouraged to refer students who may be achieving at a decent level, but would benefit from the sessions (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015).

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This group will not be publicly advertised to all students. Students/parents who meet the prescreening requirement will be contacted directly and receive a brochure detailing the groups intent. Because the needs assessment includes multiple factors contributing to the gap, all teachers that teach the age group will also be permitted to join. The same brochure will be placed in the appropriate teacher mailboxes.

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After the completion of the group sessions, students will better demonstrate the following ASCA mindsets and behaviors.

M 3. Sense of belonging in the school environment.

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

B-SMS 6. Demonstrate the ability to overcome barriers to learning.

(American School Counselor Association, 2014)

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This small group counseling approach plans to work with students of a minority group who are not succeeding at the same level of other racial/ethnic groups. The ages of students within the small groups will be between the ages of 9-10

After completing a needs assessment, I identified a troubling gap in the students' success. McCamey Primary School was unable to meet standards in the school years ending in 2016 and 2017 but increased overall scores in 2018 and met state standards. However, there was a gap in success between White and Hispanic students throughout all of these years. Hispanic students were behind White students in every data category provided in the TAPR (Hall, 2019).