A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Section III
Planning Schoolwide Program Change

Step 3:
Clarifying Needs and Finding Research-based Strategies

Once the data from the comprehensive needs assessment are in, the planning team should begin devising specific changes in the instructional program and pupil services. At this stage, the team will want to encourage everyone to let their ideas loose and THINK BIG.

Understanding Needs and Identifying Possible Solutions

Tool #5: Analyzing Program Needs and Setting Goals is one resource for reframing different areas of focus, first to understand a school's strengths and then to define its needs and challenges. This tool includes a column for indicating the source of the problems that the needs assessment revealed. Understanding the causes of problems enables team members to use hard evidence to support their solutions and to tailor solutions to fit exact circumstances.
Much of a planning team's time will now be invested in sorting out priorities, problems, and solutions. Both problems and solutions may be pinpointed by drawing on various perspectives and by looking for inconsistencies in the way programs are currently implemented across the school. One school identified the following issues and solutions in connection with an overall problem of low reading achievement:

A planning team can expect to complete an exercise like the one above for each of the priority areas that it identifies. The needs and solutions identified in this way can directly guide development of the schoolwide program's goals and plan.

Keep in mind that some solutions may be large scale, such as adopting a comprehensive, research-based program. Others may be more incremental but just as important—such as adding extra professional development or extending learning time in a thoughtful way. Often, small changes can have a significant impact. Improving coordination across grades or among teaching teams can increase the continuity of learning for students and catch students who are falling through the cracks. Improving strategies for communicating with parents can overcome weak links with families. Reaching out to the community can build relationships with businesses that are willing to mentor students or help fill a technology gap. The state and local support systems described in Section IV can help planning teams sort through these and other possible solutions and learn about opportunities they may not have previously considered.

Some schools address their identified needs by incorporating strategies that individual teachers have found successful over time with practices validated by research. Other schools turn to research organizations and networks or consultants who develop education programs to help them find the new instructional options they need. Teams that look outside the school for help should expect consultants to demonstrate why their models are a good match for the educational needs identified during the school's needs assessment.

• Barnes Elementary School in Beaverton, Oregon, identified literacy as its schoolwide focus while planning with the Accelerated Schools Project. Barnes' affiliation with that network increased community involvement and identified professional development opportunities that supported high-quality language arts instruction. All teachers at Barnes are trained in early literacy, whole-language methods, and assessing students' development along a continuum of behaviors. Barnes also offers a bilingual immersion program and activities that celebrate Spanish language and culture.

• King Middle School in Portland, Maine, adopted the Expeditionary Learning/Outward Bound model to create an interdisciplinary, project-oriented middle school program. Students in heterogeneous groups collaborate on in-depth "expeditions"; their learning culminates in demonstrations and exhibits. King also consulted research on middle school reform and "looping," a process that keeps teachers with the same group of students for at least two years.

• Patterson High School in Baltimore collaborated with the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk to design reforms that would foster a safe, serious climate for learning and improve staff and student attendance. Patterson established a transitional ninth grade in which interdisciplinary teams of four or five teachers work with 150-180 students in a block schedule with common planning time. After ninth grade, students may enroll in Career Academies developed by faculty on the basis of their instructional strengths, students' interests, and labor market opportunities. Each academy offers a common core of demanding academic courses plus an appropriate blend of career applications in Arts and Humanities, Business and Finance, Environmental Sciences and Aquatic Studies, or Engineering Technologies.⁽⁹⁾

Educators who have used outside research organizations offer the following tips for maximizing the usefulness of such collaborations:

• Closely scrutinize brochures or public relations material to determine their match with identified school needs

• Insist on seeing solid, research-based evidence of an innovative program's success before considering adopting it

• Have faculty and school community members read and review program options with the eye of a critical consumer

• Ask publishers and commercial program developers for the names of schools with similar populations where their programs have been implemented

• Visit some of these schools or communicate with their principals and teachers by telephone or e-mail to learn the program's strengths and weaknesses

Most teachers and other school staff have an intuitive understanding of the problems and solutions unique to their schools. Try to avoid using only these intuitions to judge whether an appealing program actually addresses the needs of your students. WestEd (1996, p. III-23) reminds program planners that brainstorming ideas about how to address needs is very important, but making selections about which ones to implement without careful consideration of their merits and shortcomings can spell disaster.

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[Step 2 - Conducting a Comprehensive Needs Assessment]

[Step 4 - Setting Schoolwide Program Goals]