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

What I learned:  When looking at a school’s literacy program it is important to make sure it’s effective.  The best way to do this is to create a needs assessment which by its name is easy to understand.  You are assessing what you need.  Since I’m a list person, I like focused on the headings of the needs assessment process.

1.  Create a demographic school profile

2.  Plan and Collect Descriptive, Quantitative, and Qualitative Date

3.  Analyze the Data

4.  Create a Needs Assessment survey for teachers and administration

5.  Analyze the Survey Data

“This information is used to acknowledge the strengths and identify the needs of the literacy program.” (Vogt and Shearer, p. 85)

Should I agree or disagree:  I agree that this process is a good collaborative process.  It allows for multiple people’s input and perspectives.  When thinking about what literacy program will work, it is crucial to take into consideration the experience of all of those involved.  I hope when I develop my own needs assessment I will be able to ask the right questions to render the results I’m looking for.

Connection to the Real World: When I was in my undergrad I spent 4 years working at an outdoor adventure center.  Each year was a new school year and we had to assess the programs and procedures we put in place.  As supervisors we went through the data and evaluations of our outdoor education trips.  Found commonalities and put it out to the whole staff what they would like to see kept the same or changed.  From there we made goals for our trip program and set up mandatory training for our staff to attend.  The hardest part was judging whether our goals had truly been met or not.

Vogt, MaryEllen, and Brenda A. Shearer. Reading specialists and literacy coaches in the real world. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2011. Print.