School Name: Clark Elementary School

School climate:

• Teachers and students are recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and there is an upward tick in morale

• Teacher observed that students who started kindergarten during the pandemic are behind in developing social skills due to starting school on a virtual platform

• This year, there has been an increase in behavior referrals due to student altercations and conflict (12% increase)

Student Population: 270 students

Racial Demographics: 45% Caucasian, 21% Hispanic/Latinx, 8% African American, 6.5% AAPI, 19.5% Mixed Race

Group Topic: Developing & Maintaining Friendships

Considerations for the group's developmental level:

• During ages 7-9, children have enthusiasm for building friendships but sometimes they lack skills to mutually progress those friendships (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020).

• Children are learning to be mindful of their peers and develop empathy, however trauma can impact that development (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020).

School groups will be based on the highest priorities from most recent school data (American School Counselor Association, 2020).

Teachers will complete the attached skills assessment for each student referred to the group and who exhibits this need based on school data

Students were selected based on referrals from teachers, school counselors, other school staff, and parents (Tillman & Prazak, 2019).

A combination of Adlerian and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) will be used.

Utilizing the key concept of encouragement will allow our group leaders to lean into the Adlerian goal of fostering social interest and community feeling (Carlson & Englar‐Carlson, 2017).

CBT strategies will teach group members to better understand the behavior and motivation of others, use problem-solving skills in difficult situations, and develop a greater sense of confidence in their abilities (American Psychological Association [APA], 2017).

Concluding the last session, students will answer 10 multiple-choice questions on various teaching points in the course (O’Callaghan & Cunningham, 2015).

Common purpose: Develop plans on how to teach students how to gain and maintain friendships.

Pro-group perceptions: Allow the student to create a safe space and let us know how they feel about groups, what they expect.

Shared values and norms: This will allow the students to see that just because we maybe different we may also have somethings in common.

Group structure: Guided structure for the students.

Interdependence: Allows the student to move independently once familiar with guidelines and purpose of the small group.

Cohesion and climate: Allow some time for student to adjust to the new environment.

Disclosure and feedback: Self disclosing will help students feel more comfortable about opening up in group like settings.

Total Number of Groups: create 1 to 4 groups.

Size of Each Group: Aim for 3 to 5 students per group.

Time Allotted: Allocate 10 to 30 minutes for each small group session.

Frequency of Meetings: Decide whether to meet with each group daily or 2 to 4 times per week

The groups will take place in the multipurpose room of the school during outside time, after lunch. 

We will meet twice a week to start and can increase or decrease met times if need be.

Groups will be 30-45 minutes long

Rules will be established within our first session allowing the students to create their own safe space.

Create monthly newsletters to be sent out to showcase the progress the group is making and give out information about the next meeting. 

Send out weekly progress reports after 3 meetings to show progress.

For more private information communicating with parents, faculty/staff via email.

Our current target population are second and third graders who are having a noticeably difficult time making friends in a new environment. 

Candidates for this group can be both referred and recruited.