Helping school, district, and/or community leaders facilitate discussions with community members about improving schools, this guide discusses how to use informal focus groups to gather information about what is important to people in the school community. The guide helps users gather information in a systematic way, organize what they hear, report the information back to the community, and use it to guide school changes. After an introduction, sections of the guide are: Sponsoring Do-It-Yourself Focus Groups; How to Select a Facilitator; Logistics for Hosting Do-It-Yourself Focus Groups; How to Recruit Participants; Sample Conversation Guide; How to Analyze Results of Do-It-Yourself Focus Groups; and How to Report Back to the Community and Turn Your Findings into Action. Samples of summary information, a recruitment letter, an rsvp card, and a phone message are attached. (RS)