Comprehensive Needs Assessment: Victoria Independent School District

Comprehensive Needs Assessment: Victoria independent school district

Campus:School Year: 2013-2014

Demographics and Attendance / Data Sources Reviewed:
____ Enrollment ____ Attendance ____ Ethnicity
____ Gender ____ Mobility/Stability ____ Course/Class Assignments
____ At-Risk by Category ____ Special Program Participation ____ Teacher-Student Ratios
____ Graduation/Completion/Dropout Rates ____ Dual Credit/Advanced Placement Enrollment____ AEIS Reports
____ Other: ______Other: ______Other: ______
Probing Questions:

What do enrollment numbers indicate?
What is the breakdown by ethnicity, gender, or other category?
How has the enrollment changed over the past three years?
What is the number of students in each special program? How do these program numbers look broken up by ethnicity, gender, or other category? Are we over- or underrepresented in certain groups? Why?
What is the data for special programs over time?
What does the data reflect regarding students who exit from special programs? How many? Who are they? What trend or pattern do we see?
Who are our at-risk students? What is their at-risk category?
What is the mobility rate for our campus?
What are the staff demographics?
What are the teacher/student ratios? How do these ratios compare to performance?

Summary of Strengths
What were the identified strengths? / Summary of Needs
What were the identified needs? / Priorities
What are the priorities for the campus, including how federal and state program funds will be used?
Aim 1:
High Student Performance and Academic Achievement / Data Sources Reviewed:
____ State Assessment Data (STAAR/TAKS/TELPAS) ____ SAT/ACT/PSAT Results ____ Course / Class Grades
____ RtI Minutes / Data ____ ISIP Data ____ Campus Schedules
____ Advanced Course / Dual Enrollment Data ____ AYP Data Tables ____ Promotion/Retention Rates
____ Student Work ____ Campus Assessment Data ____ District Benchmark Data
____ Screeners / Progress Monitoring ____ Curriculum Resources ____ Special Program Enrollment
____ Lesson Planning Tools ____ Assessments ____ Classroom Observation Data
____ AEIS Reports ____ Other: ______Other: ______
Probing Questions:

How is student achievement data disaggregated?
How does student achievement data compare from one data source to another?
What does the data indicate when disaggregated by ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, special program, or other category?
In which areas are we showing growth? At what rate? Compared to which standard of achievement?
Which students are making progress? Why?
What impact are intervention programs having on student achievement? Which students are benefitting or not? Why?
What does the longitudinal student achievement data indicate?
What does the data reflect within and among content areas?
How is data used to inform curriculum, instruction and assessment decisions?
How are instructional strategies aligned with student learning needs and expected outcomes for achievement?
What are the academic strengths or our campus? In which specific area(s)/skills, do our students struggle academically?
Are academic trends visible across all grade levels? Subject areas?

Summary of Strengths
What were the identified strengths? / Summary of Needs
What were the identified needs? / Priorities
What are the priorities for the campus, including how federal and state program funds will be used?
Aim 2:
Safe, Secure and Nurturing Learning Environment / Data Sources Reviewed:
____ CampusSurveys ____ Discipline Data ____ School & Classroom Walkthrough/Observation Data
____ Focus Groups ____ Parent Conferences / Mtgs ____ Harris Poll
____ Lesson Plans ____ School Map & Physical Environment ____ Master Schedules
____ Duty Rosters ____ Safe & Civil Schools Procedures ____ Campus Handbooks
____ Other: ______Other: ______Other: ______
Probing Questions:

How does instructional design and delivery maximize student engagement, a positive learning environment, higher order thinking skills, problem solving, critical thinking, etc?
How do students/parents describe the school climate? How does this compare to staff?
What does the data reflect regarding student behaviors, discipline, etc?
To what degree do students and staff feel physically safe?
What do students and staff indicate about expectations: academic, behavioral, social, extracurricular, etc?
According to discipline data, which campus procedures may need to be revisited, revised or retaught?
What does the data indicate regarding classroom management and organization? How does this compare to students’ attendance, tardies and other behaviors?
What does the data reflect regarding gang, substance abuse, weapons, and other safe schools areas? Who are the students involved? What do we know about these students? What services have these students received?
What are the discipline trends? Are there increased discipline referrals at certain times of day, days of the week, months of the year, etc?
What are the perceptions of facilities and the physical environment? What is the impact of the facilities on culture and climate?

Summary of Strengths
What were the identified strengths? / Summary of Needs
What were the identified needs? / Priorities
What are the priorities for the campus, including how federal and state program funds will be used?
Aim 3: Optimum Educational Resources / Data Sources Reviewed:
____ Student Achievement Data ____ Campus Schedules ____ Technology Tools
____ Curriculum Resources/Materials ____ Campus Inventory ____ Professional Development Opportunities
____ STaR Chart Results ____ Harris Poll ____ Campus Budget Reports
____ Classroom Observation Data ____ Purchasing Procedures ____ Alignment of key processes / purchases
____ Other: ______Other: ______Other: ______
Probing Questions:

How do we ensure that curriculum resources are clearly linked to the TEKS?
What does the data reflect about how curriculum resources, instructional delivery, and assessment tools are aligned? How are they focused on supporting and challenging all students?
What does the data reflect about classes and schedules?
Which intervention resources are having the most positive effect on student achievement? What is the evidence to support continued use of current programs?
How is adequate time devoted to subjects in which students perform poorly?
What is our process for evaluating educational resources before making purchases? Do staff members have input and understand the processes for requesting instructional materials and resources?
How do our identified needs and priorities align with our budget expenditures?
What technology do we have? What is the technology proficiency for staff and students? How does staff feel about technology?
How is technology utilized to support curriculum, instruction and assessment integration and implementation?
What are some barriers that potentially prevent effective use of our resources? How do we overcome these barriers?

Summary of Strengths
What were the identified strengths? / Summary of Needs
What were the identified needs? / Priorities
What are the priorities for the campus, including how federal and state program funds will be used?
Aim 4: Responsive to Student Needs / Data Sources Reviewed:
____ State/District Assessment Results ____ Campus Assessment Data
____RtI minutes / logs / results ____ Student Surveys/Input
____ Harris Poll ____ Attendance Data
____ Schedules for Student Support Services ____ Intervention / Acceleration / Enrichment Logs
____ Co-Curricular / Extra-Curricular Counts ____ Advanced Course / Dual Enrollment Data
____ Graduation, Completion, Dropout & GED Rates ____ Promotion / Retention Rates
____ Campus Duty Schedules ____ Parent Contact Logs
____ Community Referral Data ____ Other: ______
____ Other: ______Other: ______
Probing Questions:

Which students are making annual progress? Which ones are making projected growth? Who are these students? How does this data compare across programs, content areas, subgroups, etc?
What impact are intervention programs having on student achievement? Which students are benefitting or not? Why?
Which students are involved in extracurricular activities, clubs and other areas? Who are these students? What does student achievement data reflect about these students versus others who are not involved?
How do students describe our school climate?
What does classroom walkthrough data indicate about student engagement, higher order thinking, problem solving, and active student involvement?

Summary of Strengths
What were the identified strengths? / Summary of Needs
What were the identified needs? / Priorities
What are the priorities for the campus, including how federal and state program funds will be used?
Aim 5: Highly Qualified and Effective Personnel / Data Sources Reviewed:
____ Staff Certification / Qualification Data ____ Professional Development Records ____ Campus Walkthrough Data
____ Special Program Qualifications (ESL, GT, SpEd) ____ Student Achievement Data ____ Staff Surveys
____ PLC agendas / outcomes ____ Master Schedules ____ AEIS Report
____ Other: ______Other: ______Other: ______
Probing Questions:

What systems are in place in build capacity of our staff and to support continuous improvement?
How is new staff supported? What feedback do new staff members provide?
How are we using data to determine professional development for staff?
What types of professional development has our staff attended? How is implementation monitored? What impact has it had on performance? What is the follow-up?
What does classroom and campus walkthrough data indicate about the professional development needs of our campus?
How are we recruiting and retaining highly qualified and effective staff?
What is our staff attendance rate? Retention rate? Turnover rate?

Summary of Strengths
What were the identified strengths? / Summary of Needs
What were the identified needs? / Priorities
What are the priorities for the campus, including how federal and state program funds will be used?
Aim 6: Open, Effective Communication / Data Sources Reviewed:
____ Staff / Parent Newsletters ____ Campus Calendars ____ Contact Logs
____ Campus Procedures ____ PLC agendas/outcomes ____ Survey Data
____ Decision-Making Processes ____ Edulink Records ____ Parent Gradebook Data
____ Sign in Logs from Special Events ____ Website Data ____ Safe & Civil Schools Procedures
____ Other: ______Other: ______Other: ______
Probing Questions:

What are the communication tools used on our campus to relay information among staff on a regular basis? To parents/students/community?
How often is student achievement data communicated to parents and students?
How do we celebrate the successes of our students?
Do school committees and decision making processes make it easy for students, parents, staff and community members to be heard and, in turn, for all groups to be part of solutions to identified problems? Why or why not?
What are the perceptions of students, parents and community towards the school?
What does the data indicate about the usage of our technological communication tools?
What do students and staff indicate about expectations: academic, behavioral, social, extracurricular, etc? How are these expectations communicated?
If families speak languages other than English, what are these languages? How does the school communicate in those languages?

Summary of Strengths
What were the identified strengths? / Summary of Needs
What were the identified needs? / Priorities
What are the priorities for the campus, including how federal and state program funds will be used?
Aim 7: Involvement of All Parents, Students and Community / Data Sources Reviewed:
____ Parent Volunteer Data ____ Sign in Sheets from Family Events ____ Community Partnerships
____ Referrals to Community Agencies ____ Campus Survey Results ____ Parent Conference/Contact Logs
____ Enrollment Data ____ Parent Session Data ____ Parent Activity Evaluations & Feedback
____ Other: ______Other: ______Other: ______
Probing Questions:

What evidence exists that families and community members are involved in meaningful activities that support students’ learning? What are the activities? Which parents and community members are involved? What trends and patterns do we observe?
How are families and the community members involved in school decisions?
What types of services are available to support families, community members, and students to encourage healthy family relationships?
If families speak languages other than English, what are these languages? How does the school communicate in those language?
What types of services are available to support students in special programs? What are the results?
What types of community partnerships exist to support families and students?