What Are Accountability Groups?
Accountability groups can be an effective strategy for getting work done by leveraging social support and creating structure for tasks that can be otherwise isolating or difficult to focus on. The social support is created by establishing group members that are committed to participating in regularly scheduled study sessions.
An accountability group session includes small group intention-setting, focused individual work time, and encouraging collaboration with fellow students and peer leaders. Students that benefit from setting goals, sharing their progress, and planning next steps would be great participants of an accountability group.
Program Objectives
- Provide consistent, dedicated, structured time for students to study or work
- Increase productivity through group setting and use of goal setting and follow-ups
- Build community by maintaining accountability through attendance tracking and providing
encouragement and support - Use the group setting to review other learning strategies through resource and experience sharing
- Model effective facilitation and learning strategies and skills throughout group meeting
Student Outcomes
- Practice and demonstrate productive work time
- Learn how peer accountability can lead to success
- Establish connections with peers
Key Program Components
- Consistent, Dedicated Work Time
- Groups meet during their assigned time once per week for 90 minutes
- 10 mins – Check in and goal setting
- 70 mins – Independent work time
- 10 mins – Debrief on goals, personal check in, plans for the week
- Students are assigned to groups based on their availability
- Groups meet during their assigned time once per week for 90 minutes
- Peer Connection & Support
- Consistent participation is key. An attendance policy will be implemented to encourage attendance for all group members.
- Groups are facilitated by WISCIENCE STEM Immersion Peer Leaders
- Academic Skill Development
- Goal setting for independent work time and reviewing at the end of each sessions
- Resource and strategy sharing from facilitators and students
Accountability Group Resources
Facilitator Guide
This document outlines what facilitators need to know to successfully run an accountability group, including facilitation strategies, communicating with group members, attendance policies, and more.
Group Agreement
This document includes basic policies all group members are expected to adhere to, plus prompts for group members to determine some of their own guidelines around things like phone usage, late arrivals, and more.
Download Group Agreement
Attendance Tracking Template
A template that can be used to track several groups at once and record overall attendance data.
Accountability Group Info for Students
A page where students can learn more and sign up for sessions (when available).