Focus Groups

Focus groups—small groups of people brought together for a specific discussion—can be a useful way for school districts to develop a clearer and deeper understanding of the issues they face. These groups offer other advantages as well. First, by starting with small focus groups rather than plunging directly into a large public meeting, you are less likely to be surprised by concerns that might derail a larger meeting. Second, focus groups allow participants to develop a common language about their schools as well as respect for one another’s interests. Focus groups can be used as a first step before conducting a larger meeting—as a way to help establish the agenda or anticipate public reaction to key points.

Educators or community volunteers with facilitation skills can use the handbook in this toolkit as a resource for conducting focus groups on educational issues in your school district.

Focus Group Toolbox

• Organizing and Facilitating Focus Groups: A Training Handbook

Best of the Web

• Sage Publications: Using Focus Groups in Schools
• School Mental Health Project, UCLA, Center for Mental Health in Schools. The focus group guide is designed as part of a framework for building partnerships between schools, families, and communities.

This Tool at Work

• Anne Arundel County, Maryland: Questions used in Facility Master Planning Focus Group

Share Your Success: Contribute to the toolbox. Send us your examples and stories by emailing NationalConnection@nsba.org.

National Connection is brought to you by your state school boards association in partnership with NSBA.