The School Planning, Evaluation, and Communication System (SPECS) is an overall design for districtwide program assessment and development. It is both a way of interrelating planning and evaluation of individual programs and a way of comparing the outcomes of all district programs with the district's community-defined educational goals. Component…

The School Planning, Evaluation, and Communication System (SPECS) is an overall design for districtwide program assessment and development. It is both a way of interrelating planning and evaluation of individual programs and a way of comparing the outcomes of all district programs with the district's community-defined educational goals. This…

This report describes the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Library System's process of planning for a long-term literacy program for the metropolitan Oklahoma City/County area. The collection of data on community needs through interviews with local organizations and individuals and an extensive search of print and/or computerized information sources is…

By using the deductive or the inductive approach to needs assessment, or a combination of both approaches, school administrators can allocate physical or human resources in accordance with community priorities. (DCS)

The purpose of this Personalized Activity Kit is to help the participant develop the skills necessary to collect facts related to concerns already gathered. Specifically, these skills are methods for collecting a full range of facts and a means for sifting out the statements that are not true or valid. Guidelines and exercises for distinguishing…

Two papers by experienced Teacher Corps project personnel describing techniques and approaches used in the development of community-based education are presented in this document. The first paper, by Elaine P. Witty and Yvonne B. Miller, explores methods for identifying educational needs perceived by the community, including group discussions,…

The proposal to do this project was the result of a two-day workshop which was attended by leaders of the Pennysbury, Pennsylvania school district and of the community who explored ways to better utilize the resources of school and community, identify needs and emerging problems, and foster the concept of home, school, and community. Phase I of…

To identify which needs of the Hart County schools were most important to community members, a study was undertaken using information from a community needs assessment meeting with 28 citizens in Munfordville (Kentucky) in December, 1987. The information used included the top-ranked 25% of individual need statements and all 71 need statements.…

Iowa legislators responded to the national accountability trend in 1975 by mandating a statewide needs assessment. This paper examines the activities of fifteen selected districts in terms of: (1) a statistical analysis of community, teacher, and student rankings of eighteen cognitive and affective educational goals; (2) statistical analysis of…

The Centralia 21st Century Visioning Project was undertaken by the city of Centralia, in Washington, and Centralia College to determine a vision for the city for the next century based on citizen and business input. In summer 1994, the college conducted a survey of 185 businesses from the city's downtown core to gather retailers' perceptions on…

This document consists of two guides that were developed to assist small rural communities in northern Alberta (Canada) in conducting surveys. A community survey can be used to develop long- and short-range plans, define and solve problems, establish priorities, confirm public opinion, develop community support and stimulate action, and reveal new…

A needs assessment survey of the community surrounding the Open Access Satellite Education Services Center was conducted by South Oklahoma City Junior College in March 1978 to determine levels of interest in educational activities. Of a sample of 288 people, whose names were taken from the local telephone directory, 52% refused to answer any…

To identify postsecondary educational needs within its rapidly growing service area, factors preventing students from taking classes at the colleges, and services that would encourage students to take classes, Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) surveyed all Greene County households in April 1993. A total of 4,625 surveys were mailed,…

A needs assessment survey was conducted in the Meadowfair neighborhood of the southern part of Eastside San Jose (California) during January and February 1975. Its purpose was to poll community feelings and experiences in regard to careers--whether people understood that word to mean present employment, a future goal, or any purposeful life…

This Personalized Activity Kit presents an overview of the steps in a student needs identification procedure. These steps will be more fully explained in a subsequent publication in this series. Student needs assessment focuses on refining goal statements and on the development of a set of valid priority needs. The concerns-analysis approach is…