Make decisions about facilitator logistics.

In addition to planning the facilitator training, the work team must consider other facilitator logistics such as permission, transportation, and incentives. We recommend that you designate a facilitator coordinator for each participating school and make all the facilitator coordinators members of the logistics team for their own schools. The facilitator coordinator will handle the permission forms and letters of agreement for facilitators (for both the training and the focus groups), explain their absence from class to teachers, arrange transportation for facilitators to and from the focus group sites if necessary, and confirm participation. If you are conducting focus groups in more than one school and are using "outside" student facilitators, facilitator coordinators in each school will need to work together to make sure that all facilitators get to the right groups at the right time.

In order to confirm student facilitators' participation, ask them to sign a letter of agreement. This is especially important if you are going to offer students some form of incentive for their time and effort. We feel that an incentive is not necessary for middle school or high school students, but it's at your discretion. Incentives are likely to make a difference in your ability to recruit good post-secondary students, however. Your incentive could be money, a T-shirt, or a pizza party. In Jessamine County college-age facilitators received $50 per group, plus $50 for one-time preparation costs, mileage, and lunch.

We have prepared samples of a letter to facilitators, an agreement form for facilitators, a letter to facilitators' parents, and a permission form. (Note: These forms follow the "outside" facilitator approach.)

Next: Make decisions about site management.