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The Super STAARS small group was established based on the data gathered from the Santa Rita Elementary needs assessment. The gap in test scores on the 4th grade reading comprehension portion of the STAAR Test determined the decision to create this group.

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Super STAARS Small Group Action Plan.docx

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Stage 1 - When conducting the very first session with the small group, it is crucial to get the students engaged and interacting with one another. Conducting group activities which invite introductions and allow group members to learn more about to build a relationship.. When students begin to learn about each other and find common interests, the group members begin to establish trust. Group norms will be addressed initially, however students will be reminded at the beginning of each session. Expectations and rules will be reviewed often. Confidentiality is something which will be discussed the first session in depth. It is important for the counselor to discuss the realistic expectations of maintaining confidentiality within the group. It is also important to share with students with the consequences there could potentially be if confidentiality is broken. Explaining to the students that this is a safe place where we feel comfortable enough to talk about things that may not always want to be shared with others, is important.  Taking a minute to briefly reminding attendees regarding confidentiality before every session is something to implement.

Stage 2 - counselors will have lessons planned which require students to collaborate and work together to build their knowledge on social and emotional developments. Incorporating games and designating tasks which allow students to work together to bounce ideas off of each other and accomplish a goal together also creates that environment of trust and feeling safe within the group. In order to gauge progress throughout the group, counselors will meet individually with students after one month or eight sessions. This allows counselors to monitor progress and/or identify needs of the individuals.

Stage 3 - group closure will consist of working with students to identify obstacles they feel they may struggle with overcoming to reach their goals academically, socially, and emotionally. Counselor will distribute “Specific Action Steps” worksheets to students as a guide. Post group assessment will be given to students for understanding how well they remembered all the tools they have learned and if they feel more confident and happy since beginning in the small group. Although the group will be ending, it is important to remind the attendees even in the final session the importance of confidentiality even when the meeting times are over. Group of students will be encouraged to plan a time to meet with one another at least twice a month to continue to remain friends. Counselors will follow up with students individually 30 days upon concluding the final session.

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Students will meet the following Mindsets and Behaviors standards through participation in this group:

M 1. - Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/emotional and physical well-being.

M 2. Self-confidence in ability to succeed.

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

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

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In order to inform all parties, parents, teachers, students, administrators and community leaders, we will send out via email and provide physical copies of a weekly newsletter that provides information on the group.

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Following our plan to publicize the new group via email and with physical copies, students who are interested in participating will be informed more about the group as they meet individually with their counselor. As students hear more about the group and develop individual questions about what is discussed or how it may benefit them, they are invited to schedule an appointment. This appointment is for the student to be informed and assessed by a counselor with a short questionnaire utilizing the scaling technique to answer questions. While referrals from parents and educators are highly encouraged and welcomed, students will meet individually so the counselor can determine the level of interest the student shows and if the student expresses their desire to attend and participate. It is important for counselors to pre-screen individual students to select the ones they feel might greatly benefit from the group and those who are willing to contribute to the open environment and goals of the group.

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Once students have been selected to participate in a small group. The school counselor will give students consent forms to be filled out by guardian(s) and students. By filling out the consent form guardian and student give consent to participate in a small group setting with counselor and other students. According to the ASCA ethical standard A.7(b) school counselors must “inform parent/guardian(s) of student participation in a small group” (p. 4). Consent forms will be given a week prior to group starting. The school counselors will remind students verbally and will send a robocall message informing parents of small group participation and consent form.

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This group will benefit best from participative leadership style.
This is typically the most effective leadership style. The counselor, leader, will offer guidance to group members, but they also participate in the group and encourage input from other group members. Group members are engaged in the process and are more motivated and creative. All members are an important part of the team, which helps foster commitment to the goals of the group.

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Leadership styles are classifications of how a person behaves while directing, motivating, guiding, and managing groups of people. There are many leadership styles. Some of the most widely discussed include: authoritarian (autocratic), participative (democratic), delegative (laissez-faire), transformational, transactional, and situational.

Great leaders can inspire political movements and social change. They can also motivate others to perform, create, and innovate. As you start to consider some of the people who you think of as great leaders, you can immediately see that there are often vast differences in how each person leads.

Fortunately, researchers have developed different theories and frameworks that allow us to better identify and understand these different leadership styles.

Lewin's Leadership Styles

In 1939, a group of researchers led by psychologist Kurt Lewin set out to identify different styles of leadership.﻿﻿ While further research has identified more distinct types of leadership, this early study was very influential and established three major leadership styles that have provided a springboard for more defined leadership theories.

In Lewin's study, schoolchildren were assigned to one of three groups with an authoritarian, democratic, or laissez-faire leader. The children were then led in an arts and crafts project while researchers observed the behavior of children in response to the different styles of leadership. The researchers found that democratic leadership tended to be the most effective at inspiring followers to perform well.

Authoritarian Leadership (Autocratic)

Authoritarian leaders, also known as autocratic leaders, provide clear expectations for what needs to be done, when it should be done, and how it should be done. This style of leadership is strongly focused on both command by the leader and control of the followers. There is also a clear division between the leader and the members. Authoritarian leaders make decisions independently, with little or no input from the rest of the group.

Researchers found that decision-making was less creative under authoritarian leadership.﻿﻿ Lewin also concluded that it is harder to move from an authoritarian style to a democratic style than vice versa. Abuse of this method is usually viewed as controlling, bossy, and dictatorial.

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Authoritarian leadership is best applied to situations where there is little time for group decision-making or where the leader is the most knowledgeable member of the group. The autocratic approach can be a good one when the situation calls for rapid decisions and decisive actions. However, it tends to create dysfunctional and even hostile environments, often pitting followers against the domineering leader.

Participative Leadership (Democratic)

Lewin's study found that participative leadership, also known as democratic leadership, is typically the most effective leadership style. Democratic leaders offer guidance to group members, but they also participate in the group and allow input from other group members. In Lewin's study, children in this group were less productive than the members of the authoritarian group, but their contributions were of a higher quality.

Participative leaders encourage group members to participate, but retain the final say in the decision-making process. Group members feel engaged in the process and are more motivated and creative. Democratic leaders tend to make followers feel like they are an important part of the team, which helps foster commitment to the goals of the group.

Delegative Leadership (Laissez-Faire)

Lewin found that children under delegative leadership, also known as laissez-faire leadership, were the least productive of all three groups. The children in this group also made more demands on the leader, showed little cooperation, and were unable to work independently.

Delegative leaders offer little or no guidance to group members and leave the decision-making up to group members. While this style can be useful in situations involving highly qualified experts, it often leads to poorly defined roles and a lack of motivation.

Lewin noted that laissez-faire leadership tended to result in groups that lacked direction and members who blamed each other for mistakes, refused to accept personal responsibility, made less progress, and produced less work.

Observations About Lewin's Leadership Styles

In their book, The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications, Bass and Bass note that authoritarian leadership is often presented solely in negative, often disapproving, terms. Authoritarian leaders are often described as controlling and close-minded, yet this overlooks the potential positives of stressing rules, expecting obedience, and taking responsibility.

While authoritarian leadership certainly is not the best choice for every situation, it can be effective and beneficial in cases where followers need a great deal of direction and where rules and standards must be followed to the letter. Another often overlooked benefit of the authoritarian style is the ability to maintain a sense of order.

Bass and Bass note that democratic leadership tends to be centered on the followers and is an effective approach when trying to maintain relationships with others. People who work under such leaders tend to get along well, support one another, and consult other members of the group when making decisions.

Additional Leadership Styles and Models

In addition to the three styles identified by Lewin and his colleagues, researchers have described numerous other characteristic patterns of leadership. A few of the best-known include:

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is often identified as the single most effective style. This style was first described during the late 1970s and later expanded upon by researcher Bernard M. Bass. Transformational leaders are able to motivate and inspire followers and to direct positive changes in groups.

These leaders tend to be emotionally intelligent, energetic, and passionate. They are not only committed to helping the organization achieve its goals, but also to helping group members fulfill their potential.

Research shows that this style of leadership results in higher performance and more improved group satisfaction than other leadership styles. One study also found that transformational leadership led to improved well-being among group members.

Transactional Leadership

The transactional leadership style views the leader-follower relationship as a transaction. By accepting a position as a member of the group, the individual has agreed to obey the leader. In most situations, this involves the employer-employee relationship, and the transaction focuses on the follower completing required tasks in exchange for monetary compensation.

One of the main advantages of this leadership style is that it creates clearly defined roles. People know what they are required to do and what they will be receiving in exchange. This style allows leaders to offer a great deal of supervision and direction, if needed.

Group members may also be motivated to perform well to receive rewards. One of the biggest downsides is that the transactional style tends to stifle creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

Situational Leadership

Situational theories of leadership stress the significant influence of the environment and the situation on leadership. Hersey and Blanchard's leadership stylesis one of the best-known situational theories. First published in 1969, this model describes four primary styles of leadership, including:

1. Telling: Telling people what to do

2. Selling: Convincing followers to buy into their ideas and messages

3. Participating: Allowing group members to take a more active role in the decision-making process

4. Delegating: Taking a hands-off approach to leadership and allowing group members to make the majority of decisions

Later, Blanchard expanded upon the original Hersey and Blanchard model to emphasize how the developmental and skill level of learners influences the style that should be used by leaders. Blanchard's SLII leadership styles model also described four different leading styles:

1. Directing: Giving orders and expecting obedience, but offering little guidance and assistance

2. Coaching: Giving lots of orders, but also lots of support

3. Supporting: Offering plenty of help, but very little direction

4. Delegating: Offering little direction or support

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It seems like there are as many different styles of leadership as there are leaders. Discover some of the most common leadership style frameworks.

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The following group rules will be established prior to beginning the group:
1. Be respectful and mindful of each other.
2. Confidentiality is vital.
3. Participation is required.
During the first session, additional rules will be discussed and established. These rules will be determined and agreed upon before students sign their informed consent.

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Through this group, several of Yalom's Therapeutic factors could be present. First,  direct advice would be an important factor in all sessions. Members will be receiving and giving suggestions for strategies for handling problems. Another factor present will be interpersonal learning. Group members will be receiving feedback from others and experimenting with new ways of relating. Additionally, the universality factor will be present. This demonstrates that group members are not alone in their struggles. Finally, I believe that the most important factor present in all sessions will be the instillation of hope. Members must have faith that the sessions will be effective.

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According to the American Counseling Association Ethical Standards (2019), A.7 (a), a school counselor, “facilitate short-term groups to address students’ academic career and/or social/emotional issues” (p. 4). Our school counselor's program mission is to meet the whole child academically and socially. By facilitating small group intervention and addressing the needs of our students our school counselor program will support the whole child. Additionally in the American Counseling American Counseling Association Ethical Standards (2019), A.7 (g) we must "facilitate groups from the framework of evidence-based or research-based practices." (p. 4). As we designed our small group intervention we keep in mind best practices, and research based theories when creating small groups. By keeping this in mind our school counseling program will ensuring to meet the needs of our student and campus.

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In alignment with the Texas Code, on Sec. 33.005.(b), it states that in order to create a comprehensive school counseling program the counselor needs to provide guidance curriculum, responsive services, individual planning and system support.  Additionally the Texas Code, on Sec. 33.006.(b) a school counselor must participate in planning, implementing, and evaluating a comprehensive developmental guidance program to serve all students and to address the special needs of students. By creating small groups that are data driven, our curriculum is meeting the needs of students academically, socially, emotionally. Within our small group guidance we are giving responsive services, individual and system support.  By creating small group intervention our school counseling program is fulfilling our duties of a school counselor.

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Cherry, Kendra. (2020). Leadership styles and frameworks you should know. Verywellmind. https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-styles-2795312

Legal & Ethical FAQ: American School Counselor Association (ASCA). Legal & Ethical FAQ | American School Counselor Association (ASCA), 2020, Retrieved From https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/f041cbd0-7004-47a5-ba01-3a5d657c6743/Ethical-Standards.pdf

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. Retrieved from https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/guid-respon-serv-small-group-counseling-guide-2015.pdf

School Counselors and Counseling Programs, Texas Education Code, Chapter 33 § 33.005. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.33.htm

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