Needs Assessment

The term needs assessment is a systematic approach that gathers data by means of established procedures and methods through a defined series of phases. Needs assessment sets priorities and determines criteria for solutions, so that stakeholders can make informed decisions. It also sets criteria to determine the most effective method to use human capital, revenue, and other resources. This entry describes how needs assessment leads to action that will improve services, programs, operations, organizational structure, and the significance of needs assessment in education research, measurement, and evaluation.

A “need” is the gap between the current state (what is) and a desired state (what should be). Needs assessments are conducted to determine [Page 1138]needs, study their nature and causes, and prioritize future action. Needs assessments are focused on specific targeted populations in an organization. In education, a targeted population may be students, parents, teachers, administration, or community in general. Although initially a needs assessment is conducted to determine the needs of the population for whom the organization or system exists, a comprehensive needs assessment often takes into account needs identified in other parts of the system. It is critical to understand that a needs assessment is not complete unless plans are made to use the information in a practical and meaningful way.

There are several basic approaches to identifying needs for an organization. The discrepancy views a need as a discrepancy between a desired performance and an observed or predicted performance. A democratic view identifies a need as a desired change by the majority of a particular group. An analytic view perceives a need to be the direction in which improvement can be predicted to occur given information about the current status. A diagnostic view perceives a need as something that causes harm by its absence or deficiency. Although there is not a common accepted definition of need, the need assessor decides which definition will be an appropriate guide for a study.

A needs assessment is a systematic approach with three distinct phases. The three phases have distinct outcomes. The outcome in Phase 1 is the preliminary plan for data collection in Phase 2. The outcome of Phase 2 is the criteria for action based on high-priority needs. The outcome for Phase 3 is the action plan(s), written and oral briefings, and the final report.

The essence of Phase 1 is to identify what is already known about the needs of the target population by establishing a commitment to the needs assessment and obtaining reassurance that the administration will use the findings with appropriate action in a suitable manner. To completely explore the needs in Phase 1, the team must prepare a management plan, identify major concerns, determine need indicators, and consider data sources.

The fundamental purpose of Phase 2 is to gather and analyze data. The first step is to establish the scope of the needs assessment and determine the target groups. The next step in Phase 2 is to gather data to define needs. Prioritizing needs is the third step. The fourth step is to identify and analyze causes. The final step in Phase 2 is to summarize findings and share the results with the needs assessment committee, managers, or other key stakeholders. The major accomplishment of Phase 2 is a set of needs statements prioritized of importance.

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