The CARE Coaching Needs Assessment (CCNA): Action-Based Data for All

We all know school leaders face a myriad of challenges on a regular basis. These challenges are compounded by the diverse learning needs among students and educators alike. Understanding those needs is the first critical step in addressing and meeting those needs. To do so, school leaders should engage in efficient needs assessments that gather data on the actual practices carried out by educators and leaders across the school. In doing so, school leaders can effectively plan for targeted school improvement planning and professional development planning. Moreover, schools that have growing multilingual learner populations encounter richer challenges: school programs are not always set up to meet the needs of this student population, and general educators are not always experienced in working with multilingual learners. When engaging in a needs assessment in a school with a growing multilingual learner population, it is essential for leaders to consider the needs of all students and be able to collect data on practices that affect general education and multilingual learners.

The CARE Coaching Needs Assessment (CCNA) does just that.

Action-Based Data for All

CCNA, powered by the Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning (CALL), is a data-collection and feedback system that provides school leaders with action-oriented data for school improvement and professional development planning. Previously, WCEPS has offered versions of CALL that focus on school-wide leadership practices for general education, and versions that specifically focus on leadership for teaching multilingual learners. However, CCNA is the first instrument to collect and present action-oriented data in both of these domains. As a result, school leaders can:

• Assess needs of educators across the school
• Assess needs of educators who work closely with multilingual learners
• Compare action-oriented data on practices occurring in general education to similar practices within multilingual learner education.

The following clip is from the WCEPS Tips & Dips webinar: Assessing Needs for School Improvement: Action-Based Data for All. In the clip, CALL and CCNA Project Director Mark Blitz demonstrates how the CCNA reporting system provides action-based comparable data:

In a previous post, we saw the kinds of data collected and provided to school leaders for school improvement and professional development planning. By utilizing the CARE Coaching Needs Assessment (CCNA), school leaders can assess the needs across their school within general education and multilingual learner education as well. Once that data is collected, the fun begins…

Genuine Continuous Improvement

With support from WCEPS CARE Coaches, school leaders can leverage CCNA data to identify and target key areas for improvement. During a CARE Coaching data debrief session, CARE Coaches work with school teams to identify the areas for improvement. School leaders can “star” key items and other data blocks, and by doing so can create a custom report for their own purposes.

From that custom report, users can create an improvement plan and/or professional development plan. For much school improvement work, this is where the process stalls: data is collected, plans are made, and plans are implemented. It is not common to reassess and collect similar data to determine if progress has been made. Certainly, if and when these efforts happen, they are often far removed from the initial assessment and subsequent improvement work. However, the Quick CALL feature within the CCNA promotes meaningful continuous improvement work. By generating a Quick CALL survey, CCNA users can automatically create and administer a unique survey that contains only the CCNA items they identified in their custom report. That way, school leaders can be more targeted and efficient in their ongoing improvement and professional learning work.

The clip below, from the WCEPS Tips & Dips webinar: Assessing Needs for School Improvement: Action-Based Data for All, demonstrates this process: data analysis, custom report, and Quick CALL (after the improvement has been underway):

In all, the CARE Coaching Needs Assessment (CCNA) offers school leaders a robusy and efficient system for understanding and addressing the diverse needs within their schools, particularly concerning general education and multilingual learner populations. By providing action-based data and facilitating a truly continuous improvement cycle through the Quick CALL, CCNA empowers leaders to make targeted plans, implement effective professional development, and track progress over time, ultimately supporting educators and enhancing instruction for all students.