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What is a Focal Group and how do I set one up?

A Focal Group is a subset of participants in a Class/Group. When a Focal Group is enabled, reports will disaggregate results for participants in the Focal Group. This provides an understanding about whether members of the Focal Group experience their environment differently and whether and how the conditions in their environment may be reinforcing—or mitigating—the opportunity gaps observed in other data.


Setting up a Focal Group is a two-step process that can be completed by a Community Lead or Class/Group Lead. First, the feature must be enabled for a Class/Group. Then, the Roster must be edited to indicate who is part of the Focal Group. See below for step-by-step instructions.

Note: The Target icon in the Class/Group Card will appear with a dark background when enabled and white background when disabled.

A. Why create a Focal Group?

Individuals from specific groups are often situated further from opportunity. Often, they are members of specific racial, ethnic, or gender groups; English language learners; or individuals who are members of multiple intersecting demographics (for example, boys of color). 


If Leads are aware that a specific group of individuals is situated further from opportunity in their context and want to disaggregate their results to better attend to their experiences, we encourage them to use the Focal Group feature to define a custom group that specifically includes those individuals. The Focal Group feature is intended to help educators adopt a Targeted Universalist approach towards creating a more supportive and equitable learning environment.

B. How do I enable/disable the Focal Group Feature for one Class/Group?
  1. Sign in

  2. From the Classes/Groups tab, identify the Class/Group you would like to edit

  3. Click the target icon in the Class/Group Card

  4. To enable the Focal Group, toggle the button from X to ✓. You will then be prompted to name your Focal Group

  5. To disable the Focal Group, toggle the button from ✓ to X

  6. Click Save Changes to 1 Class/Group

C. How do I enable/disable the Focal Group feature for several Classes/Groups?
  1. Sign in

  2. From the Classes/Groups tab, select the Classes/Groups you would like to edit by clicking the box next to each name or select all by clicking the box above the list

  3. Click Edit # Classes/Groups

  4. Click Edit Focal Group

  5. To enable the Focal Group, toggle the button from X to ✓. You will then be prompted to name your Focal Group

  6. To disable the Focal Group, toggle the button from ✓ to X

  7. Click Save Changes to # Class/Group

D. How do I set a Default Focal Group for new Classes/Groups in a Community?
  1. Sign in

  2. From the Classes/Groups tab, click Default Settings

  3. Scroll to Focal Group

  4. To enable the Focal Group, toggle the button from X to ✓. You will then be prompted to name your Focal Group

  5. To disable the Focal Group, toggle the button from ✓ to X

  6. Click Save Settings for New Classes/Groups

Note: When a Default is set and the Focal Group is changed for a Class/Group, an alert will appear along with an option to instead match the Community’s Default.

E. How do I add/remove individuals in the Focal Group?
  1. Sign in

  2. From the Classes/Groups tab, identify the Class/Group you would like to edit

  3. Access the Roster by clicking the Students/Participants button on the Class/Group card

  4. Select the individuals you’d like to add or remove from the Focal Group by marking the box next to the identifier

  5. To add them to the Focal Group, toggle the button above the list from X to ✓. You will then see “yes” populate in the “In focal group” column

  6. To remove them from the Focal Group, toggle the button above the list from ✓ to X

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