Student Achievement Assessment Committee

Participation - to have a part or share in something. "Participating" is a matter of active engagement, rather than passive observation, and is shown through working effectively in diverse groups and teams, as well as through cooperation and respect for others.

Leadership - to guide or influence a group to achieve goals. "Leading" does not require formal authority or power but rather is a matter of influence, integrity, spirit and respect.

Stage 1
• Learns to distinguish different types of group member behavior such as: reinforcing, clarifying, mediating, interfering, withdrawing, challenging, leading, summarizing, evaluating, attacking, dominating, defensive, advocating and closure (definitions of forms of behavior are listed below).
• By identifying behaviors, learns to assess own and others’ interactions in groups accurately
• Identifies group and individual goals

Stage 2
• Understands what types of behaviors are expected for the given interaction
• Identifies own and others’ behaviors within the interaction
• Evaluates behaviors in relation to the goal(s) of the interaction

Stage 3
• Determines effective behaviors using an understanding of interaction behaviors and comprehension of interaction goal(s).
• Makes comparisons between these effective behaviors and own behaviors
• Determines how to modify behavior in order to improve effectiveness of interaction

Stage 4
• Selects and demonstrates appropriate effective behaviors depending on type of interaction
• Transfers and generalizes understanding of social interaction and behaviors in order to learn to be effective in unfamiliar cultures or subcultures
• Adapts to lead in new groups

Reinforcing – Encourages and supports participants; demonstrates openness and acceptance of others’ ideas; gives recognition for contribution; encourages participation form all group members.
Clarifying – Asks other members for information or elaboration in order to clarify their ideas or offers data or elaboration in order to clarify their position related to the task
Mediating – Persuades members to constructively consider differences of opinion; searches for common elements; attempts to alleviate disagreement; is willing to compromise one’s ideas for the accomplishment of the group’s task
Interfering – Verbal or nonverbal behavior which distracts the group members from the task at hand
Withdrawing – Stops participating in the group process in a way that is obvious to other members of the group
Challenging – Requests justification or evidence from another person to support their viewpoint
Leading – Leads group by showing persistence in task-directed activities: initiates discussion, tries to keep members on the “right track”; proposes goals and tasks to stimulate action within the group and facilitates movement toward the group’s goals.
Summarizing – Restates major points and content that has been discussed up until that point
Evaluating – Makes judgments about the quality of the group process and the participation of group members: assesses whether or not the group solution meets the criteria of the task
Attacking – Verbal or nonverbal behavior which is perceived to be hostile or derogatory towards other group members
Dominating – Taking power and control in a group, although it was not assigned or delegated by other group members or predetermined by outside authority or status
Advocating – Defends their position or beliefs as related to the task; tries to persuade other group members to their point of view
Defensive – Overreacting to another group member’s challenge or one’s statements
Closure – Reaches consensus on completion of task and makes plans for any further meetings