Chambers 1

Kate Chambers
ECI 508
Dr. Grifenhagen
12 February 2017
Needs Based Assessment and Strategic Plan

For my needs assessment, I chose to survey the teachers at my school. I sent the survey out to all
teachers via email and I used Google Forms to collect the data. I received responses from 32/52 teachers,
or about 62%. First, I wanted to know what teachers felt were their own areas of strength and confidence
and what areas they felt they were weakest in and/or needed the most support. See below for a description
of the results of this part of the survey. In bolded text are the top four strengths (because two were tied)
and the top three areas of need.
Option on Survey Percentage of Teachers Percentage of Teachers
who chose this as an area who chose this as an area
of strength/confidence of weakness or an area in
which they would like
more support

Creating an environment that motivates 71.9% 15.6%

students to learn

Formative assessments 53.1% 9.4%

Vocabulary instruction 46.9% 9.4%

Using technology to improve instruction 46.9% 21.9%

Having students use technology to 40.6% 31.3%

improve learning

Differentiating instruction and/or 40.6% 43.8%

assignments to meet student needs

Teaching/supporting students to read for 37.5% 25%

understanding and meaning
(comprehension)

Summative Assessments 31.3% 15.6%

Teaching/supporting students with being 28.1% 43.8%

able to read unknown words (decoding)

Writing Instruction 18.8% 31.3%

Teaching/supporting students to read 15.6% 40.6%

smoothly, with expression, and with
appropriate speed (fluency)
 Chambers 2

I was also curious how many teachers would be interested in leading a training based on their
area(s) of strength and how many teachers would be interested in allowing their peers to observe them to
learn more about their areas of strength. According to Bean and Dagen (2012), Teachers [can] observe
each other to share their approaches to teaching and to learn from each other. (p. 373) The results of
those questions can be seen in the table below, with the most popular answer in bolded text.

Survey Question Answers

Would you be willing to lead a training in this Yes- 25%

school to support your colleagues and share what Maybe- 40.6%
you know about your area(s) of strength? No- 34.4%

Would you be willing to allow your peers to Yes- 53.1%

observe you so they can learn about your area(s) Maybe- 40.6%
of strength? No- 6.3%

I also included an optional open-ended question at the end of the survey asking teachers to share
their input if they had any other ideas they would like to share regarding strengths/needs for yourself,
your team, or the school. I received four responses. One teacher shared that she also studied literacy with
a focus on reading instruction and that was very helpful for her. Another teacher shared that she feels like
things are trial and error for her. A teacher leader at our school mentioned that he would love for us to do
EdCamp style PD for the staff and that special education strategies would be an awesome session for that.
On the similar note, another teacher mentioned that she felt the general population of the school would
benefit from the strategies and tricks she has observed or learned from special education teachers. She
went on to share some behavior strategies that she has learned that have worked for her and explained
how new teachers often dont know these strategies and often struggle to control the behavior in their
class. As a result, students are not learning as much as they could be if the classroom management was
stronger.
In looking at this data to develop next steps, I have chosen to consider the areas of weakness
self-identified by the teachers who completed the survey. According to their responses, the biggest areas
of need among the teachers who responded are differentiating instruction and/or assignments to meet
students needs, teaching/supporting students with being able to read unknown words, and
teaching/supporting students to read smoothly, with expression, and with appropriate speed. I was not
surprised that these three areas were chosen as concerns. My school has an extremely diverse student
population and the majority of the students are reading and writing below grade-level, while other
students are excelling. With regular education classes of 30-40 students, many teachers are overwhelmed
with how to meet all of their students needs and have not received support in how to differentiate
instruction and/or assignments. In addition, although students are generally expected to show mastery
with fluency and decoding skills in elementary school, many of our students continue to require support in
this area. However, most secondary teachers do not receive training in how to support foundational
literacy areas such as these and students are left to struggle with trying to read and understand
content-area materials.
Because I am a special educator and do not have full-time experience as a regular education
teacher, I know that I would not have much credibility if I attempted to offer training by myself to regular
education teachers on the area of differentiation. Although differentiation and specialized instruction is
my focus throughout the day, my classroom environment is extremely different than theirs with a
 Chambers 3

maximum of 12 students per class and a full-time TA for all classes except for one. However, to address
the need brought up by these teachers I have several ideas. First, I would like to approach the teachers
who identified this as a strength and shared that they would or might like to offer training and/or allow
their peers to observe them and see if we can get either of these things in place. I would also approach the
teachers who do not feel comfortable leading a training and/or letting their peers observe them and see if
they would like to share any informal thoughts with me about differentiation that I could then share with
the staff on their behalf.
For the teachers who requested more support with helping students with decoding and fluency, I
also have several ideas. Again, I would like to approach the teachers who identified this as a strength and
shared that they would or might like to offer training and/or allow their peers to observe them and see if
we can get either of these things in place. I would also approach the teachers who do not feel comfortable
leading a training and/or letting their peers observe them and see if they would like to share any informal
thoughts with me about differentiation that I could then share with the staff on their behalf. However, I
also feel very comfortable with both of these areas and would like to design my own training in how to
support students with decoding and fluency. I think I would like to do a follow-up survey to the entire
staff and see how many teachers would like an in-person training and how many would prefer a flipped
PD. I will design a professional development session accordingly, hopefully with the help of the teachers
who indicated that they would like to help.
Because I have never done anything like this before, Im not sure about a reasonable timeline. I
know as a classroom teacher and graduate student I feel like I already have a million things on my plate
and at times I feel reluctant to add anything else so I know my colleagues probably feel the same way. I
would probably start with differentiation since that was the highest need and then move on to decoding
and fluency with a similar timeline. See my estimated timeline below:

Task Timeline

Identify teachers who would be willing- or might Within a week

be willing- to lead a training in differentiation and
reach out to them

Identify teachers who would be willing-or might Within a week

be willing- to allow peers to observe them
regarding differentiation and reach out to them

Identify teachers who identified differentiation as Within a week

a strength but are not willing to train and/or allow
observations and reach out to them to get input

Send out a follow-up survey to the staff regarding Within 2 weeks

in-person vs. flipped PD about differentiation

Compile available information from all colleagues Within 4 weeks

regarding differentiation and offer a training

Follow-up survey/conversations after training to Within 2 weeks of training

determine if there is still a need for support
 Chambers 4

Work Cited
Bean, R. M., & Dagen, A. S. (2012). Best practices of literacy leaders: keys to school improvement. New
York, NY: Guilford Press.