Implementing Needs Assessment

The Implementing Needs Assessment Community of Practice (CoP) will support states that have successfully developed needs assessment tools and processes to support local districts and schools, and are moving towards implementation of their needs assessments across districts in their states.

This CoP focuses on states implementing needs assessments that are based in effective practice, responsive to individual state context and needs, and aligned to the requirements of ESSA. The Network’s goal is to support participating states in implementing a comprehensive approach to needs assessment that will engage multiple stakeholders at the state education agency (SEA) level in order to break down silos, streamline data collection, and provide a lever to move districts beyond compliance towards a cycle of continuous improvement.

As statewide implementation rolls out, participating states will work to identify practical flexibilities in the process in order to accommodate specific district contexts, further articulate the roles of district staff, coaches, area agencies and other technical assistance providers in the needs assessment process, and work to build a continuous improvement cycle that ties into the needs assessment process and outcomes.

States will also engage in formal lessons learned activities to cull data from school, district and SEA participants in the needs assessments, in order to capture successes and challenges that can help identify needed refinements for year 2 of implementation and inform tools and feedback for those in other states who are still working to define their needs assessment approach.