Determining a School's Literacy Needs and Developing a Plan (Chapter 4)

            A needs assessment is created to “document the probable needs for a program or service” (Vogt & Shearer, 2011, p. 74).  When creating a demographic school profile, it is imperative to include district demographics; student demographics; professional demographics of teachers, administrators, and support personnel; and parent, family and community members (Vogt & Shearer, 2011).

In a light hearted way, the following video very simply illustrates the importance of working in a successful collaborative team and being inclusive of all stakeholders.  

 

           I would imagine one of the hardest parts of this entire process (developing a literacy improvement plan) would be having the entire team work together.  Often as teachers, we are so focused on our own individual and class goals, we forget we are part of a bigger picture and must work well with others.  I have been on teams that work well and teams where the individuals work independent of each other; it has been my experience that the more a team works together, the more success is had.  One school in particular that I worked at had well working, collaborative teams.  I enjoyed working at that school more than any other school I have had the opportunity to work at, and I do feel a lot of it had to do with how the school worked together as a whole.  

          When planning and collecting data, it must first be decided on the information that needs to be collected.  Next, what methods will be used to collect information?  Finally, the information needs to be organized and analyzed.  “…when you find a piece of information that needs attention, try to identify other indicators that point to the same thing” (Vogt & Shearer, 2011, p. 77). 

A quick way to find out how teachers view different aspects of the literacy program is by using an anonymous survey.  Once the surveys have been completed, they need to be analyzed for patterns.  Strengths should be identified prior to pointing out the areas of need (Vogt & Shearer, 2011). 

Now that the data has be carefully collected and analyzed, the needs assessment report must be written and edited.  The identified needs are summarized in the report.  The report must be written in a most professional manner (Vogt & Shearer, 2011). 

The two-year grid is developed as a next step.  Included is the “school and district demographics, a list of literacy team members, a description of current practices, a summary of the findings from the needs assessment, and a proposal for professional development” (Vogt & Shearer, 2011, p. 82).  The grid identifies step-by-step the activities and changes that will occur in order to help achieve the established goals (Vogt & Shearer, 2011). 

Finally, progress must be continuously evaluated and adjustments made as necessary.  Vogt and Shearer (2011) recommend having the literacy team “gather multidimensional evidence to see if what is being implemented is truly working” (p. 84.

References

Vogt, M., & Shearer, B. (2011). Reading specialists and reading coaches in the real world.

     Boston, MA: Pearson.