Transcript center.serve.org

Webinar:
CNA Toolkit
August 21, 2012
Toolkit Series from the Office of Migrant Education

Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA)
Toolkit

Service Delivery Plan (SDP) Toolkit

Program Evaluation Toolkit


First in a series of three documents
Purpose 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 work
Step 2: Explore what is
Step 3: Gather and analyze data
Step 4: Make decisions
Step 5: Transition to a service delivery plan

Preview Table of Contents:







Review requirements
Develop a management plan
Create a Needs Assessment Committee
 Recommended role groups to be included
 Sample meeting agendas
 Group facilitation activities

Develop a migrant student profile


Identify Concerns
Write 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 achieving
 Stated in terms of concerns about migrant
students and familes
 Reflect data in the migrant student profile or
additional information shared by the NAC
 Be possible to support with data
 Be specific and concrete
 Appropriate 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
School Readiness
We are concerned that
migrant students are
not enrolled in
Kindergarten
Reading
Mathematics
Graduation
Indicator
Percentage of
migrant
students
eligible for
kindergarten
who are
enrolled
Data Needed
Number of
migrant
students
eligible for
kindergarten;
number of
migrant
students
enrolled during
SY 2011-2012
Source of Data
(How to Access
Data)
Kindergarten
program
enrollment
records
(school site or
local MEP
level); state
migrant
database
Person(s)
Responsible
School
readiness team
leader and/or
school
principal, NAC
member
Deadline
May 15th
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
48% 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.
What Should Be
95% of migrant parents with children
ages 0-4 should read picture books to
their children at least three times a
week.
Need Statement
The 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 report
Sharing with the SDP planning team
 Data
 Proposed solution strategies
 Measurable Program Outcomes (MPOs)

Updating the CNA
Sharing 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: [email protected]