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.
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 learning environment for all students.
From the Classes/Groups tab, identify the Class/Group you would like to edit
Click the target icon in the Class/Group Card
To enable the Focal Group, toggle the button from X to ✓. You will then be prompted to name your Focal Group
To disable the Focal Group, toggle the button from ✓ to X
Click Save Changes to 1 Class/Group
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
Click Edit # Classes/Groups
Click Edit Focal Group
To enable the Focal Group, toggle the button from X to ✓. You will then be prompted to name your Focal Group
To disable the Focal Group, toggle the button from ✓ to X
Click Save Changes to # Class/Group
From the Classes/Groups tab, click Default Settings
Scroll to Focal Group
To enable the Focal Group, toggle the button from X to ✓. You will then be prompted to name your Focal Group
To disable the Focal Group, toggle the button from ✓ to X
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.
From the Classes/Groups tab, identify the Class/Group you would like to edit
Access the Roster by clicking the # Students/Participants button on the Class/Group card
Select the individuals you’d like to add or remove from the Focal Group by marking the box next to the identifier
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
To remove them from the Focal Group, toggle the button above the list from ✓ to X
