I just ache inside when I hear about these situations, and I usually feel about as helpless as you and your daughter do to think of anything that might help. I don't think that kids have changed so much over the years in this regard. When new kids try to enter into a group sometimes it goes smoothly and sometimes it doesn't. Kids this age are very insecure and peer relationships are very important. Groups get established and dissolve continuously.
New members threaten existing ties and so can often experience a kind of cruel rejection.
I think you and your daughter are both doing the right thing. I imagine in time that your daughter will find herself included in one group or another. Since kids this age are generally so insecure, the sub-groups that get established often form quickly, become rather closed off to change, and dissolve as quickly as they had previously become established. In time your daughter will find herself in one of the new sub-groups that evolves. It is very early in the year.