Comprehensive Needs Assessment is an important process for identifying differences from what is and what could be, prioritizing the most urgent needs, developing strategies for addressing them, and utilizing limited resources at the regional state, Intermediate Service Unit, district and school levels. Needs assessments are required by several federally funded programs, and it can be overwhelming to conduct them effectively, so the results are useful. Results from the Region IV Western Educational Equity Assistance Center’s (WEEAC) Comprehensive Needs Assessment will be shared. This session will cover the basics of conducting a Comprehensive Needs Assessment, including how to begin the process, identifying common sources of data, gathering and analyses of data, prioritizing needs, reporting the results, and identifying action steps. This session will provide participants with multiple tools and strategies for doing so and afford interactive opportunities to practice the process.
Jan Perry Evenstad, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the WEEAC and a Professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver in the Department of Elementary, Linguistically Diverse, K-12 and Secondary Education. Her expertise includes gender equity, Title IX, and bullying prevention.
For over 30 years, Dr. Jesse has designed, implemented and evaluated equity audit systems, school improvement systems, district improvement systems and national recognition protocols across the United States for schools, districts, State Education agencies and regional service providers such as RELs, EACs, and Comprehensive Centers.