Federal Programs Needs Assessment: Maximize Your Data, Minimize Your Effort: The Forsyth Way

Fonda Harrison and Ann Reid

Federal Programs Needs Assessment:Maximize Your Data, Minimize Your

Effort:

The Forsyth Way

To provide participants with an understanding of the approach the Forsyth County School District is using to conduct its Federal Programs Needs Assessment evaluations.

Purpose

Why We Do Needs AssessmentsWhat Kinds of Needs Assessments We Conduct

For Whom We Do Them When and How We Conduct ThemWhy the Process Works for UsWhat We Do with the Data

What We Will Discuss

A need is defined as “a discrepancy between a learner’s current state of knowledge, performance, or attitude and some desired state.”

Empirical evidence must be collected to verify this discrepancy or “gap.”

The needs assessment process must be conducted as the first step in program planning.

(Cervero and Wilson, 2005)

Definition of Needs Assessment

AccountabilityRequirement for Federal ProgramsChallenges in FormulatingChallenges in Implementing

What are your concerns about needs assessments?

Factors to Consider

Needs Assessment Process

Data… Data… Data… Data… Data… Data…

Collecting data from multiple sources

Parents Teachers Student Information

System Combining data from

different sources

Analyzing data Determining subsets Rank ordering Reporting School level District level

Nobody?Title I District Staff?Title I School Staff?A contractor?

YOU!

Who develops and administers needs assessments?

Use data from teachers, parents, and our Student Information System;

Incorporate web-based surveys;Combine all data for reporting;Review data with key stakeholders at school and district level.

What is the Forsyth Way?

Parents◦Federal Advisory, McKinney-Vento,

School, Summer Camp

Staff◦Teacher, Specialty Staff (Tutors, Camp)

Students◦In Targeted Assistance Schools◦In Schoolwide Schools

What groups do we assess?

Requirements for Parental Involvement

Evidence of LEA and individual school written parental involvement plans developed jointly and agreed upon with parents…

Evidence that schools have signed and dated school-parent compacts that have been developed jointly with parents…

Evidence of the required annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the LEA’s/school’s parental involvement plan and activities…

Evidence that the LEA ensures all parents of Title I students have the opportunity to be involved in decisions about the use of the 1% reservation for parental involvement…

(1)Spring meeting with Parent Involvement Coordinators and Title I Lead Teachers to identify the goals for the survey, review previously administered parent surveys, review question bank items, and develop the district’s Title I Spring parent survey.

(2)Surveys done anonymously by school.(3)Administered over a two-week period with

surveys available in English and Spanish both online and on paper.

Parent Needs Assessment Process

(4) Data combined into one report to be analyzed at both the school and district levels.

(5) District report used to provide data for the district’s Parent Involvement Policy and CLIP and to plan for specific district-led parent involvement activities.

(6) Individual school reports used to provide data for school-parent compacts, parent involvement policies, targeted assistance and schoolwide Title I plans, Title I funds, 1percent set aside, and the CLIP. Data shared with Local School Council, Title I parents, staff, and community members.

Our process….

Parent Survey

(Kinard)

Parent Survey

(Kinard)

Parent Report

(Kinard)

(Kinard)

(1) Spring meeting with Title I teachers and administrators to identify goals for the survey, review previously administered staff surveys, review question bank items, and develop the district’s Title I staff survey.

(2)Surveys done anonymously by school. (3)Administered over a one-week period. (4)Data combined into one report to be

analyzed at both the school and district levels.

Staff Needs Assessments

(5) District report used to provide data for planning technical assistance meetings and additional professional learning for teachers.

(6) Individual school reports used to provide data for the CLIP, school-parent compacts, parent involvement policies, targeted assistance and schoolwide Title I plans, professional learning plans, and budget.

Our process…

Spring 2013 Forsyth County Title I Staff Survey

(Kinard)

Staff Surveys

Staff Report

(Kinard)

Monitoring Requirement: Evidence of correctly identifying students for participation in a targeted assistance program…

Used to create rank-ordered multiple criteria; Ensures inclusion of all students; Data from multiple sources (1)Student Information System: Program Information

(EIP, ESOL, Migrant, Special Education, McKinney-Vento), no pre-school experience, GKIDS, CRCT, and EOCT scores;

(2) Survey: retention or placement, excessive absences, parent or teacher requests extra help, failing grades, AIMSWeb, benchmarks.

Student Needs Assessments

Lots of data to correlate;Amount of time involved;Need for multiple people; Items to consider;Weighting the items.

Items for Consideration in Developing Multiple Criteria

Rank order created twice each year: Elementary: August and February Middle: May and December; First step: Gathering data from the Student

Information System; Second step: Assigning surveys to teachers. Third step: Weighting items; Fourth step: Developing the rank order report; Fifth step: Technical assistance/monitoring of

schools: checking multiple criteria and rosters/schedules.

Targeted Assistance Student Process

Student Survey

(Kinard)

Targeted AssistanceTeachers are assigned student surveys

(Kindard)

Multi-Criteria Breakdown

Student – Targeted Report

How effectively were everyone’s needs met? (students, parents, staff) Did we ask the right questions? Are the results valid? What comments did we receive after the

assessments? Are we tracking results year-by-year? Do we see any

trends in the data? Are we meeting the requirements of the monitors and

auditors? What feedback did we receive during monitoring

about our needs assessments?

Thoughts After the Assessments…

Aligns with compliance requirements; Involves stakeholders; Streamlines process; Provides data needed for the CLIP, 1 % Set

Aside, multiple criteria, targeted assistance and schoolwide Title I plans, school-parent compacts, and parent involvement policies;

Allows for consistent reporting across the district.

Why Our System Strategy Works

Cervero, R.M. & A.L.Wilson . Working the Planning Table: Negotiating Democratically for Adult, Continuing, and Workplace Education. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing, 2005.

Kinard, Roger. “Title I Needs Assessment.” Owl Education.

References

Questions & Comments