Kansas school boards are required to conduct a needs assessment of each school building in their district as part of the annual budget process. The needs assessments along with test results must be shared. Districts must also provide strategies to increase these test scores.

Derby USD 260 has adopted a strong needs assessment process with a focus of supporting overall student and district improvement which includes:

• Linking the needs assessment to its strategic planning and school accreditation process.
• Greater use of student performance data by all stakeholders when evaluating results and developing responses.

Last year, Derby’s improvements on state math and reading tests were about double the state average. With 7,275 students last year, Derby is the 11^th largest district in the state. Its percentage of high needs students is similar to the state average. It would make sense that Derby’s success could be duplicated statewide.

Derby school leaders identified four major impacts of their assessment process.

Complying with state law – and much more

Accompanying a school board’s requirement to conduct needs assessments, there are a number of achievement goals that must be met. The boards must also outline their plan for reaching those goals. Boards are not required to use a specific format but Derby uses a template provided by the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) which also provides the requirements of the law.

District leaders say the needs assessments and review really go far beyond their posted documents and are woven into the accountability and planning process.

• The district’s 2022-2027 strategic plan prioritizes the needs assessment to identify and determine attainable school resources, academic progress, and individual needs for each school.
• Goals for 2022-23 through 2024-25 include raising state assessment results by two percent annually.
• The needs assessment and state assessment review are used in the district’s preparation for the state accreditation process.

“For school improvement, all of these things have to work together,” said Heather Bohaty, Superintendent. “That’s why we brought them all together. The focus is targeted, progressive improvement.”

Using data to make decisions

The new system has a much stronger focus on data. The district provides schools and teachers with detailed reporting on how each student is doing on assessments including changes in performance over time.

The data allows educators to evaluate results at the student, classroom, building, and district levels. For example, last spring data indicated a weakness in learning about fractions in math, so the district used federal COVID funding to add a fractions program to support instruction – a clear example of using the needs assessment data to make budget allocations to improve student learning.

Increased teacher and student support

Principals are given professional development and report how they are using data monthly. Data is reviewed at weekly teacher Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings. Curriculum coordinators visit each grade level and attend PLCs. Three professional development days are spent each year on common needs assessment focused topics. Late start collaboration time is used to work on goals and needs.

Derby leaders say they have strengthened their Multi-Tier System of Support (MTSS) which provides more individualized support. “We’ve gotten more intensive and strategic about our groupings of students,” said Dr. Holly Putnam-Jackson, Assistant Superintendent. “We act a lot earlier than we used to and we also have started to build in different tools and resources.”

Strong role for the board of education

Students have individual goals in reading and math and they track their own results. They are also engaged in their plan to improve in those areas. Students and staff share details of these in presentations to the school board. Although much of the work on the needs assessment and recommendations is developed by the administration and building leadership, it is ultimately a tool for the board. The new system means the board must spend more time on these topics through regular meeting updates and written reports from the superintendent.

“I will admit I was skeptical,” board president Michel Blankenship told me. “I thought this might just be something to kind of check off. I was surprised when we got a three-ring binder and all the data, which showed our administrative leadership took it very seriously. It’s a big challenge but it's easy to get complacent no matter what you're doing. I think the needs assessment helps keep us talking about the big picture, focused on our strategic plan and goals.”