Stabilizing Classroom-Based Group Interventions

Abstract

Group interventions are an important aspect of the roles of professionals in the schools. The literature on school based group interventions primarily provides a description of specific interventions and their component parts, with instructional steps for implementation. However, for a school based group intervention to be successful, the intervention must become institutionalized in the system within which it is being implemented, and planning for institutionalization must begin at the earliest stages of program or intervention design. This article provides guidelines for the professional working in the schools to follow to facilitate the long-term stabilization or institutionalization of an intervention. Structures that consultants and/or implementers can establish to help operadonalize the guidelines are described and illustrated through case examples with em-phasis on a special education setting serving an urban, multiethnic population. Caveats based on experiences with institutionalizing a social and affective problem-solving group intervention are provided, as are some solutions.