NEEDS ASSESSMENT

JOSEPHINE S. CARREON

A need assessment is a systematic process for determining and addressing needs, or “gaps” between current conditions or “wants”. A need assessment is a part of planning processes, often used for improvement in individuals, education/training, organizations, or communities. Needs assessments encourage districts and their schools to systematically examine performance gaps and identify, understand, and prioritize the needs that must be addressed to improve outcomes for all students. Why do we need to conduct a needs assessment? An effective needs assessment helps local stakeholders and system leaders understand how the pieces of a complex educational system interact. Whether that system reflects a school, a district or an entire state, a needs assessment can uncover both strengths and challenges that will inform growth and improvement. The goal of a needs assessment is to help educators identify, understand and prioritize the needs that districts and schools must address to improve performance .Identifying priority needs is the first in a series of closely tied steps that also include understanding root causes that contribute to the areas of need, selecting evidence based strategies that address those areas, preparing for and implementing selected strategies and evaluating assessment becomes the beginning step of each iteration of a continuous improvement cycle. The following are the continuous improvement cycle: First, identify local needs. Second, select relevant, evidence-based interventions. Third, plan for implementation. Fourth, Implement. Fifth, examine and reflect. But the question is, when are needs identified? Needs are identified during project planning, implementation and measure the impact of the project. In conclusion, needs assessment is an essential tool in making sure that the programs that are offered are needed and that new interventions will meet an unaddressed need of community and others. Unless systematic needs assessments are conducted, precious resources are wasted addressing problems that do not exist.

-oOoThe author is SST III at Potrero National High School