Comprehensive Needs Assessment
It’s that time of year again! Time to begin planning for the upcoming school year. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) across the state are currently working with their campuses on planning for the 2023-2024 school year. To begin this process, campuses must first look at where they are now and use that as a guide to where they need to go in the future. With that goal in mind, let’s look at the first step in this process – conducting the comprehensive needs assessment (CNA).
Register now for the Comprehensive Needs Assessment online course.
The CSS Federal Team assists Clients with locating and using resources available for the CNA process including training materials, suggested templates for recording data review results, and tools for the root cause analysis.
Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA) Defined
Very simply, a CNA can be described as “a snapshot of what is” on a campus. The guidance gained from a needs assessment as a thorough review of data:
- helps the campus monitor and assess the impact of programs, instruction, and other resources related to the challenging State academic standards (TEKS and STAAR),
- particularly the needs of those children who are failing, or at risk of failing, to meet the challenging State academic standards and any other factors as determined by the campus.
Why Conduct a CNA?
An effective needs assessment helps a campus identify their areas of strength as well as areas where problems need to be addressed, in order to determine the best course of action to improve student achievement.
An annual CNA is required for all districts and charters participating in the Title I program and for those who receive State Compensatory Education funds.
Under TEA guidelines, data from the district and campus CNAs will be used to develop the programs for all federal grants including Titles I, II, III and IV. CSS recently provided tips on the needs assessment requirements for Titles II, III, and IV.
- Program Checkup – Title II, Part A
- Title III Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Requirements
- Random Validations – Title IV, Part A
Conducting a comprehensive needs assessment is also a “best practice” for all schools focused on continuously improving their students’ academic success.
Steps in Developing a CNA
- Identify and prepare improvement planning team members.
- Collect, organize, and analyze data.
- Identify and prioritize problem statements (1-3).
- Find root causes.
- Complete the needs assessment.
- Compile CNA results and write a summary narrative.
- Organize prioritized problem statements according to TEA Strategic Priorities. Read more about TEA’s Strategic Priorities.
- Tools are available to assist your campus team with the CNA.
Click here for an online CCNA Resource Toolkit guidance document. Open the toolkit to find timelines, form templates, quick reference sheets, instructional videos, probing questions recommended for the data review portion of the needs assessment, and so much more.
Recommended timeline for the CNA process
It is recommended that the CNA process begin in February and be completed by early May. The CNA is then utilized to complete the Campus Improvement Plan (CIP). A draft of the CIP should be completed before submitting the ESSA application.
The CSS Federal Team provides Clients with a checklist and additional support as requested.
End Result:
- A list of prioritized problem statements to be addressed in the Campus Improvement Plan.
- A clear picture of “what is” on your campus.
Questions?
- Email Sharon Benka, Federal and State Grants Manager: sbenka@charterschoolsuccess.com
- Visit the Charter School Community Roundtable, where you can ask questions, get answers and more!
- Register now for the Comprehensive Needs Assessment online course.