Needs Assessment: Minding the Gaps
Nigel Gannon, Program SpecialistNYS 4-H Youth Development
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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Overview
Definitions
Considerations for the How-To
Why Bother?
Blind-Spot Examples
Activity: Considering Strengths and Needs
Tools and Resources Available
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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Ground Rule
Ask!
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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Defining Needs Assessment (NA)Closing the gap: what is v. what should be
• “Should” = preferred, desired• The gap must be measurable!• A structured process
• Challenge: some needs cannot be met (or measured), and this is not always obvious
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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CYFAR (https://cyfernetsearch.org/ilm_1_1)
Conducting a needs assessment is a systematic process of investigating a population or community to assess the state of current resources such as knowledge, abilities, interests, and approaches pertinent to the focus of the needs assessment such as a concern, aspiration, or intention. A needs assessment is a focused examination of the way things currently are and the way things can or should be in order to fill a gap in services, (e.g., establish trainings to address a specific need).
Conducting a Needs Assessment• “Need” or “gap” feels deficit-based
• Both deficit-based and strengths-based
• A natural part of program planning, evaluation, reflection, and adaptation
• Assists effort to meet needs AND contributes to the story arc for stakeholders
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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Deciding-QuestionsGiven an identified need or gap:
• What are the consequences of maintaining the status quo?
• What is causing the gap?• What strategies can be utilized to close the gap? • What is the low-hanging fruit?
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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Why Needs Assessment?
• To facilitate finding the answers to the deciding questions
• Adding some structure and processes to what we already do, perhaps on the fly or intuitively
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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Why Needs Assessment? (cont.)
– Stronger, more-targeted programming that meets program/stakeholder needs
– A process establishing priorities given resources, strengths, level of need, and types of gaps
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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Why Needs Assessment? (cont.)
– Focuses on the audience (“grassroots”)
– Supports stronger programming and stronger evaluation, which supports even stronger programming and even stronger evaluation, which….
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
Cornell Cooperative Extension
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
Cornell Cooperative Extension
Social-Emotional Common Measures• How do we capture growth in “self-esteem” or
“growth mindset”, for example?
• A gap in telling the 4-H story to stakeholders, potential funders; perhaps a gap in intentionally developing S-E skills or tools
• What works for you?! (a la carte)
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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NYS Public Presentations Evaluation
• A partnership with a graduate class
• Moving beyond: “Anecdotally, many youth tell us that PP is the most impactful program….”
• Dove right in; hit the brakes!
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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The point• Your process matters; your context matters! – (Someone else’s may not)
• Structure to the process matters
• Pausing and reflecting, before and after, matters
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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Considering Strengths and Needs
In your teams: (10 minutes; a reporter is needed)• Brainstorm up to 5 needs or gaps you think
exist in your area Identify a strength that exists that can support addressing the gap(s)
• Identify how you can measure progress in closing the gap(s)
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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Identifying Needs
• How are you going to identify and learn about them? (a resource question)
– Existing Data Analysis– New Data Analysis– Focus groups, surveys, informal conversations,
youth voices, etc.
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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“What Should Be”
• What is minimally acceptable?• What is the ideal?• What is likely?• What is expected? [Who is expecting it?]• What is feasible?
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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Identifying Needs
• Remember: this is a pre-program tool to facilitate effective, appropriately-designed and focused programming
• This is also a post-program tool!
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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Many Tools Available
UC-Davis, UM (Cyfernet), UW, Oregon State U
CORE: Cornell Office for Research on Evaluation• The “Netway”
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
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CORE Working Examples from NYS
• Public Presentations
• Teen Leadership
How much information do you have/need?
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
Cornell Cooperative Extension
Review
Definitions
Considerations for the How-To
Why Bother?
Blind-Spot Examples
Activity: Considering Strengths and Needs
Tools and Resources Available
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
Cornell Cooperative Extension
Questions/Comments?
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
Cornell Cooperative Extension
Acknowledgements• Many stolen-with-credit resources from Oregon State
University, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, Rutgers University
• http://extension.oregonstate.edu/employees/employee-resources/evaluation/needs
• https://www.evaluationnetway.com
• https://cyfernetsearch.org/ilm_1_1
Thank you!
Feel free to reach out:
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities
Cornell Cooperative Extension