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 paper discusses an attempt to improve student discipline in the public schools of Springfield, Illinois. First, it discusses briefly a needs assessment study of staff, citizens, and students. A more extensive discussion is then offered of the objectives of the project and how they were accomplished. Finally, the paper offers a midyear report…

This paper describes a survey conducted in 1982 by the Rosemount, Minnesota, school district as a model for other districts wishing to obtain reliable information about their communities at low cost. The paper outlines the following information: (1) the objectives of the survey; (2) the district's constraints and resources; (3) preliminary…

A needs assessment survey developed by the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) addressed two issues: the perceptions of educators, students and the general public regarding the importance of certain educational goals, and the extent to which these goals are being met. Student knowledge and skill goals dealing with communication,…

Florida's priorities for career education were determined by a statewide survey of parents and community leaders. Career education needs identified by the respondents included (1) student needs (develop students' competencies in job responsibility, self-concept, self-knowledge, flexibility, and tolerance; emphasize students' basic academic skills;…

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…

The development of a planning model in the Mesa Unified School District (Arizona) to meet the need for a strategic planning process is examined. Surveys were mailed to 15,000 residents in the Mesa Public School District with a return of 1,933 surveys. Survey results indicate a prioritization of goals, an assessment of what the future may hold for…

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,…

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.…

During the last few months of 1980 the Lake Washington School District in Kirkland, Washington, conducted a futures study as part of an overall needs assessment study. The study staff identified over a hundred social, political, or economic changes predicted to affect life in the United States in the 1980s. Of these, 37 items were selected for a…

A career education needs assessment conducted by the Dallas (Texas) Independent School District focused on fourteen schools (K-12) located in the East Oak Cliff Subdistrict, a predominantly (98%) black urban community. Work already completed by the Partners in Career Education (PCE) project, in which the District was a participant, was used for…

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 rationale for conducting a community survey to obtain information on a specific problem or issue for local school board policy formation is illustrated in this case study. A survey mailed to 10 percent of all district households in a small midwestern city yielded a 31 percent response rate. Survey analysis was utilized by the school board to…

This paper describes a survey-based needs assessment method for school districts using multiple constituency groups. The constituency groups included are: the general public, community leaders, parents, students, graduates, and professional educators. The method requires polling the groups using telephone surveys, mailed surveys, or group…