Toolkit Series from the Office of Migrant Education

Webinar: CNA Toolkit

August 21, 2012

Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA) Toolkit

Service Delivery Plan (SDP) Toolkit

Program Evaluation Toolkit

First in a series of three documentsPurpose is to provide

recommendations for ways that state directors can facilitate a process for a comprehensive needs assessment for the Migrant Education Program

Aligns with Federal statute and Guidance for a MEP CNA (checklist in Section B)

Provides a customizable step-by-step approach

Provides planning tools and examples Web-based: State directors can read the

entire Toolkit or click on only needed sections

Includes tips for small states

Witkin and Altschuld: Planning and Conducting Needs Assessments: A Practical Guide (1995).

Framework piloted in over 20 states for the migrant CNA

The Comprehensive Needs Assessment Toolkit converts this model to a five-step planning process that connects to the Service Delivery Plan and Migrant Program Evaluation

Step 1: Preliminary workStep 2: Explore what isStep 3: Gather and analyze dataStep 4: Make decisionsStep 5: Transition to a service

delivery plan

Preview Table of Contents:

Review requirementsDevelop a management planCreate a Needs Assessment

Committee Recommended role groups to be

included Sample meeting agendas Group facilitation activities

Develop a migrant student profile

Identify ConcernsWrite Need Indicators

Area of Concern: broad areas based on the root causes of the unique characteristics of the target group

OME identified Seven Areas of Concern Educational continuity Instructional time School engagement English language development Educational support in the home Health Access to services

In one local project, test scores indicated that migrant students in the fourth grade were scoring significantly lower than other students.

Before recommending additional tutoring, the NAC began digging deeper –

Why might this be so?

Additional data from the migrant student profile indicated that attendance is poor among migrant students

Why might this be so?

Parent interviews and data from school nurses indicated that children were often sick and unable to attend

Why might this be so?

Community data indicated that there was no medical clinic in the community, and parents were unable to attain medical services for the children in a routine or timely way

Explore root causes before jumping to solutions.

A concern statement should:Reflect one of the OME Goal Areas Be based on a reason why migrant students are not achievingStated in terms of concerns about migrant students and familesReflect data in the migrant student profile or additional information shared by the NACBe possible to support with dataBe specific and concreteAppropriate for the MEP to address

Relate to Concern Statements Can collect data to verify the presumed gap

between “what is” and “what should be” Suggests type of data needed to verify

Need Indicator: Percent of migrant students who move from one school to another and enroll in courses that are not good matches to ones in which they were enrolled in their previous school.

Type of data: curriculum and course review between sending and receiving schools for migrant students

What is a root cause? What are features of a strongly written

Concern Statement? What is a Need Indicator?

Please dial *1 on your telephone keypad or type your feedback into the

questions pane to provide a brief response to any of the above questions.

Focus Area and Concern

IndicatorData

Needed

Source of Data (How to Access

Data)

Person(s) Responsibl

eDeadline

School Readiness We are concerned that migrant students are not enrolled in Kindergarten

Percentage of migrant students eligible for kindergarten who are enrolled 

Number of migrant students

eligible for kindergarten; number of

migrant students enrolled

during SY 2011-2012 

Kindergarten program enrollment records (school site or local MEP level); state migrant database

School readiness team leader and/orschool principal, NAC member

 

May 15th

Reading          

Mathematics          

Graduation          

Need: gap between “what is” and “what should be”Need Statements: actual data-supported gaps between “what is” and “what should be”

 Area of Concern  

Concern Statement 

Need Indicator 

Need Statement

Goal Area: School Readiness

Concern Statement: We are concerned that parents of young migrant children do not read picture books to their children at least three times a week.

Need Indicator: Percentage of migrant parents with children ages 0-4 who report reading picture books to their children at least three times per week.

Data Source: Question 3 on Parent Survey

Comparison Group (or Target): Given the importance of reading to young children, we believe that at least 95% of all migrant parents should read picture books to their children.

Summary of Data Findings: Of the 75 parents with children ages 0-4 who responded to the Parent Survey administered by local recruiters from 6 local migrant programs across the state, 36 (48%) reported that they read picture books to their children at least three times a week.

What Is What Should Be48% of migrant parents with children ages 0-4 who responded to a survey reported that they read picture books to their children at least three times a week.

95% of migrant parents with children ages 0-4 should read picture books to their children at least three times a week.

 

Need StatementThe percentage of migrant parents with children ages 0-4 who read picture books to their children at least three times a week needs to increase by at least 47%.

Propose research-based or evidence-based solution strategies for each prioritized Need Statement Expert Work Groups with NAC

Prioritize solution strategies Extent of the need Likelihood of reducing the need (gap) Feasibility of implementation Impact if left unaddressed Resources available

What is a Need Statement?On what should a proposed solution

strategy be based? What are three criteria for prioritizing

strategies?

Please dial *1 on your telephone keypad or type your feedback into the

questions pane to provide a brief response to any of the above questions.

Writing the CNA reportSharing with the SDP planning team

Data Proposed solution strategies Measurable Program Outcomes (MPOs)

Updating the CNASharing the CNA with stakeholders

Preview Section M (M-1, M-2, M-6):

Limit the size of your planning team; add stakeholders as needed

Get stakeholder input individually; conduct focus groups at conferences

Limit the number of concerns on which to collect data to fit reasonably with the size of your program (prioritize according to need)

Leverage resources for the CNA with another federal program (Title III, homeless)

Enlist support from a college or university

What are some strategies for transitioning from the CNA to the SDP?

What are some reasons for sharing the CNA with stakeholders outside of the MEP?

What are some strategies for conducting a quality CNA with limited resources or in a small state?

Please dial *1 on your telephone keypad or type your feedback into the questions pane

to provide a brief response to any of the above questions.

Link to a draft of the Comprehensive Needs Assessment Toolkit will be sent to you in a follow up email after the webinar, along with a link to the webinar evaluation survey

Finalized document will be available on the RESULTS website

Questions can be directed to Irene Harwarth: Irene.Harwarth@ed.gov