R9F-Discuss Focus Groups - Nautilus Middle SchoolMIAMI BEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florido 33139, www.miomibeachA.gov
MISSION MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor Philip Levine and Members
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: February 12, 2014
SUBJECT: DISCUSSION REGARDING OCUS GROUPS -NAUTILUS MIDDLE
SCHOOL
BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS
On January 8, 2008, the City of Miami Beach entered into an Education Compact (the "Compact")
with Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS). Since the Compact implementation, the City
of Miami Beach has collaborated with M-DCPS to Enhance Learning Opportunities for Youth in all
Miami Beach public schools. Community survey results in 2012 reflect 91 percent of residents
with children in public schools are very satisfied or satisfied compared to 53 percent and 51
percent very satisfied or satisfied in 2005 and 2007 respectively.
Despite the overall improvement in perception by families with children in public school,
community members continue to voice concerns about Nautilus Middle School. Per the
Compact, the City may conduct parent satisfaction surveys with the assistance of M-DCPS,
including findings on key drivers for satisfaction.
At the January 15, 2014, Commission Meeting, staff was directed to investigate the option of
conducting focus groups regarding Nautilus Middle School in lieu of adding additional questions to
the 2014 Community Satisfaction Survey or hosting an online survey via our SNAP survey
software.
Kerr and Downs Research (KOR) provided the attached proposal for consideration regarding
focus groups. The purpose of the focus groups would be to:
1. Investigate issues among parents who currently have children enrolled at Nautilus Middle
School
2. Examine why parents decide not to enroll their children in Nautilus Middle School
Since there are two (2) separate research targets {parents of children currently enrolled and
parents who decided not to send their children to this school), it will be necessary to conduct at
least two (2) focus groups, one with each research target. KOR recommends not combining these
two research targets into one focus group. The anticipated timeframe is four weeks from
development of focus group script to preparation of final report. Anticipated costs for focus groups
using a City of Miami Beach meeting room facility are as follows:
1. Cost of two (2) groups -$11,000
2. Cost of four ( 4) groups -$21,000
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Agenda Item 8 ctF
Date :;l-j).~f'(
Discussion Regarding Focus Groups -Nautilus Middle School
February 12, 2014
Page 2 of 2
Additionally, the Committee for Quality Education made the following motion regarding Nautilus
Middle School at their January 28, 2014 meeting:
The Committee for Quality Education requests the Mayor and Commission support the
request to add a series of questions regarding Nautilus Middle School to the City's 2014
Community Satisfaction Survey regardless of whether the Commission opts to employ
focus groups to gather data. We recommend the survey and/or focus groups include, but
are not limited to the following topics: academic standards, safety (inside, outside, and
web), use of substitute teachers, public relations from the school, and student transfers.
Based on the request of the Mayor and Commission, staff recommends the consideration of focus
groups to better identify issues of concern surrounding Nautilus Middle School. Staff will work with
KDR to ensure focus groups are accessible to all Miami Beach residents, and include a bilingual
moderator if two (2) focus groups or more are preferred.
JLM/KGB/LDR
Attachment
T:\AGENDA\2014\February
903
~-KERR & DOWNS RESEARCH
Market Research & Opinion Surveys
Proposal for the City of Miami Beach -Focus Groups
Study purpose
1. Investigate issues among parents who currently have children enrolled at Nautilus
Middle School
2. Examine why parents decide not to enroll their children in Nautilus Middle School
Research Design
Research targets.
Since there are two separate research targets (parents of children currently enrolled and
parents who decided not to send their children to this school), it will be necessary to conduct at
least two focus groups, one with each research target. It is strongly recommended to not
combine these two research targets into one focus group.
A critical success factor of a focus group is to have participants build on one another's ideas,
thoughts, experiences, etc. It is rare that customers (e.g., parents whose children are enrolled) and
non-customers (e.g., parents who did not enroll their children) are in the same focus group.
Number of groups.
Focus groups are idiosyncratic as well as qualitative research. One can never be certain if results
from one group are typical. Most professional market researchers recommend conducting at
least two groups per research target. We will present costs for conducted varying numbers of
groups per research target.
Facility.
Option 1. There are professional focus group facilities in Miami. The advantage of using a
professional facility is that officials from the City of Miami Beach can sit "behind the mirror" and
observe the discussions without being in the room with participants.
Option 2. A less expensive alternative to a professional facility is to use a City of Miami Beach
meeting room. Group discussions will still be videotaped in this environment, but City officials
who wish to be present during the discussion must sit at a separate table within the same room.
This option has the advantage of not requiring parents to leave Miami Beach to participate. Kerr
& Downs Research recommends this option.
Moderator
Phillip Downs, Ph.D.
• Moderated over 1,000 focus groups
• Moderated groups with parents of school-age children at all levels from preschool to college.
2992 Habersham Dr. • Tallahassee, Florida 32309
(850) 906-3111 •FAX (850) 906-3112 • http://www.kerr-downs.com
904
:t KERR & DOWNS RESEARCH
Market Research & Opinion Surveys
Time frame
Develop focus group script
Recruit participants1
Hold groups
Analyze results
Prepare report
Costs
Week 1
Weeks1&2
Weeks2&3
Week3
Week4
Using a City of Miami Beach meeting room as the facility
Developing the focus group scripts $1,000
Recruiting participants $ 500/group
Incentives for participants $1,000/group
Moderating $1,000/group
Analysis & report $1,000/group
Facility cost & refreshments $ 100/group
Videotaping $ NC
• Cost for 2 groups = $ 8,200
• Cost for 4 groups= $15,400
Using a professional focus group facility
Developing the focus group scripts
Recruiting participants
Incentives for participants
Moderating
Analysis & report
Facility cost & refreshments
Videotaping
• Cost/or 2 groups= $11,000
• Cost for 4 groups= $21,000
References
$1,000
$1,000/group
$1,000/group
$1,000/group
$1,000/group
$ 750/group
$ 250/group
• For projects with the Florida Prepaid College Plan -Curtis Zimmerman, President, the I
zimmerman /agency, 850.264.8278, Curtis@zimmerman.com
• For projects with young children -Douglas Behrman, Investor, Growing Room,
850.545.6272, doug@dougbehrman.com
• National Association of Secondary School Principals, Jeanne Leonard, CAE, Senior
Director of Marketing and Diversity, 703.860.7233, leonardj@nassp.org
1 Kerr & Downs Research has been successful in obtaining public school parents' names and telephone
numbers from several county school systems in previous studies.
2992 Habersham Dr. • Tallahassee, Florida 32309
(850) 906-3111 •FAX (850) 906-3112 • http://www.kerr-downs.com
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