This report presents the findings of focus groups convened to determine what the parents of youth participants in the New York City Beacons think about the program. The Beacons initiative is a comprehensive model of school-community-family partnerships undertaken by New York City in 1991. The initiative originally enabled 10 community-based…

The purpose of this study was to assess the rehabilitation counselor issues regarding the integration of spirituality into rehabilitation counseling. Rehabilitation counseling, from its inception, has espoused the concept of holism. The holistic approach to rehabilitation counseling recognizes the importance of working with the whole person, to…

The following report represents the findings from the qualitative portion of the News for a New Generation project. This data provides information about what kinds of news is available for young people, why producers create youth-oriented news the way they do, and what young people say they really want in news. The combination of textual analysis,…

Discusses the need for effective library service to people with disabilities and focuses on the need to train users, based on experiences at the Special Needs Center of the Phoenix (Arizona) Public Library. Highlights include training rewards; librarians as trainers; and needs assessment through interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, and task…

A focus-group study recently surveyed 111 parents concerning the type, frequency, and reason for their involvement in their children's education and major barriers and facilitators to such involvement. To improve parent participation, educators must clarify how and why parents can be involved, build on parent involvement at school programs, create…

Student course evaluations were collected from four sections of finance course (two included focus groups). Student recommendations were implemented in all four. Students in focus group sections reported higher satisfaction with the course, perhaps due to the Hawthorne Effect. (SK)

Focus groups with British school and college headteachers (n=12) holding degrees in educational management identified important management competencies (ability to learn, to act decisively, to think globally). Managerial knowledge, skills, and higher order capacities need to be targeted specifically as each requires a difference development…

Offers advice to recruiters working on college campuses on how they can create a positive image with students and career services personnel. States that a good recruiting organization knows its customers, creates programs with the customer in mind, chooses its recruiting team well, and fosters strong relationships with campus partners. (MKA)

Six focus groups with 49 rural residents identified concerns about balancing work and family (time, energy, conflicting demands, child care), causes of imbalance, and types of help needed. Results were used to plan programs on time and resource management, meal planning, and relationship skills. (SK)

Analysis of focus groups of beginning special education teachers, teacher mentors, and administrators considers the needs of beginning special education teachers, forms of needed support, content of needed support, and the sense of isolation and need for support. Implications for teacher induction and teacher mentoring programs are drawn, also…

Presents results from a series of interviews and focus groups of engineering faculty and students regarding the use of teams in their courses and the benefits and challenges they believe are a direct outcome of team-oriented approaches in engineering. (Author/CCM)

Reports on Nevada's substance abuse prevention programs for youth. The overall prevention system in the state espouses a "risk and resiliency" approach. Analysis of the programs, using a focus group methodology, yields findings about potential outcomes as well as implicit program theories. Implications for planning and further evaluation…

A literature review, focus groups (n=200), and questionnaire responses from 324 family physicians identified their learning needs related to osteoporosis. The three methods identified different learning issues, suggesting the importance of triangulation to ensure currency and relevance in continuing-education needs-assessment. (SK)

Reports on the first phase of a project to identify and implement user-based design criteria in World Wide Web pages. Focus group interviews and questionnaires were used to identify the criteria that influence use of the Web and to analyze them within the context of the users' information-gathering behavior. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the potential of focus groups to address balance of power and empowerment issues in nursing research. Explains the need to involve diverse stakeholders in curriculum development, student evaluation, and appraisals of students' perceptions of their experiences. (Contains 52 references.) (SK)