Office of Planning and Service Coordination

Regional Needs Assessment 2005

Summary

The data suggest that NWREL can be most helpful by supporting state efforts to improve student learning by enhancing the use of data for decisionmaking, strengthening local capacity to implement and sustain improvements, supporting improvements in curriculum, instruction, and assessment, and addressing the needs of diverse learners.

Introduction

In this year's regional needs assessment study data were analyzed in the context of the No Child Left Behind Act to identify:

  • The number and nature of schools not meeting AYP in the Northwest
  • Where SEAs and LEAs feel schools need to focus their energy and resources to meet AYP, and
  • How NWREL can be of greatest assistance in helping states improve local school and district performance

Data were drawn from five sources for the needs assessment study including:

  • A series of meetings, referred to as "state go-around" meetings, which included representatives from the state education agency for each state, as well as NWREL's Task 1 state coordinators, Deputy Director, and CEO. The purpose of the meeting was identify how NWREL can be of greatest assistance to each state in helping schools meet AYP
  • A NWREL client follow-up survey question asking what topics or issues the respondent would like to see NWREL address in the future to assist their organization
  • The 2004 regional needs assessment Educator Survey of all Northwest superintendents and all principals and a sample of teachers from high-poverty schools. The survey asked respondents to identify areas where their schools need to put more effort to ensure a high level of student success
  • School demographic data from the National Center for Educational Statistics
  • School performance and AYP data from the state departments of education in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington

The data suggest that NWREL can be most helpful by supporting state efforts to improve student learning by enhancing the use of data for decisionmaking, strengthening local capacity to implement and sustain improvements, supporting improvements in curriculum, instruction, and assessment, and addressing the needs of diverse learners.

Implications for NWREL's Work

NWREL will be targeting its work to support the state education agencies in their efforts to improve learning in local schools. This year's needs assessment study provides insights into specific types and topics of assistance that state agencies feel they are likely to need help addressing. Some are training and technical assistance areas in which NWREL already has or can easily develop expertise. Others are areas more appropriate for referral.

  1. Bring SEAs together to share and discuss ideas, problems, and solutions regarding the states' educational needs. NWREL can further support this process by providing available evidence for these solutions.
  2. Help SEAs scale up trainings and technical assistance at a regional level via the Training-of-Trainers model with intermediate education agencies or other organizations, such as professional associations, which can provide training directly to the field. The primary training and TA needs identified in the needs assessment include: using data for decisionmaking; developing leadership for change; building parent/community involvement; identifying effective models for improvement; supporting collaborative decisionmaking to improve learning; aligning the instructional program with standards; evaluating improvement progress; differentiating instruction; increasing cultural competence; developing culturally appropriate curriculum and instruction; and addressing the learning needs of NA/AI, and ELL students.
  3. Examine NWREL's capacity to address regional needs. Where are the gaps? How can we fill these either by finding resources to provide needed services, by partnering with other providers, or referring to other providers?
  4. Develop a database of quality service providers who can address specific educational needs across the region. Use these for referrals. Make referral information accessible via the Web.
  5. Help districts obtain research-based training and technical assistance support for schools in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring status.
  6. Conduct evaluative research on the effectiveness of best practices in the various contextual situations characteristic to Northwest schools.
  7. Assist states in identifying and implementing research-based best practices for reducing drop-out rates.
  8. Assist states with developing a process to identify and monitor effective supplemental education services.
  9. Identify research-based practices that are effective in unique educational contexts of the rural/remote areas of the Northwest-areas of minority concentrations, especially Native American/Alaska Native and Hispanic, high poverty, declining populations and economies, challenging teacher/administrator recruitment, and poor access to professional development opportunities.
  10. Identify research-based best practices and resources for addressing the cultural and school climate issues that are a primary focus of educators in schools with high AI/AN enrollment rates; i.e., improving school and district culture and, by implication, being culturally responsive to American Indian/Alaska Native students.
  11. Work with states to identify strategies they can use to help schools and districts with high AI/AN enrollments meet the highly qualified teacher and paraeducator requirements of NCLB.
  12. Identify best practices and resources for addressing the cultural and academic needs of English Language Learners including: strategies for improving instruction in classrooms with both ELL and non-ELL students; assessment strategies and tools for determining status and progress in students' language skills.
  13. Identify strategies for making schools safe and welcoming for ELL students, establishing high expectations for these students, and substantially reducing their high dropout rate.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Where We Stand: AYP Status of Northwest Schools and Districts
Supporting States in Their Efforts to Strengthen School and District Performance

  • State Level Supports
  • Local Level Supports
    • Enhancing Local Capacity to Use Data for Decisionmaking
    • Strengthening Local Capacity to Implement and Sustain Improvements
    • Supporting Improvements in Curriculum and Instruction
    • Addressing the Needs of Diverse Learners
Implications for NWREL’s Work

Appendix
Appendix A: School and District Improvement
Appendix B: Leadership
Appendix C: Parent Involvement
Appendix D: Teacher Collaboration for Professional Development
Appendix E: Mathematics and Science Instruction and Assessment
Appendix F: Secondary Reading and Writing
Appendix G: Addressing Achievement Gaps of American Indian/Alaska Native Students
Appendix H: Addressing Achievement Gaps of English Language Learner Students

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Content last updated: 3/2/2008