Planning in Local School Districts. Project Kansas 76: Concept Paper.

In the wealth of documentation produced as a result of increasing pressures on local school districts to be accountable, two terms--"needs assessment" and "planning"--are bandied about most frequently. These terms are often used interchangeably and, even when this is not the case, they often represent varying shades of meaning. Such confusion in the literature makes it difficult to operationalize implicit processes and concepts at the practitioner level in the effort to improve educational practice. This paper attempts to clarify the nature of planning and of needs assessment by providing a concrete illustration of their application in a local school district. Planning has to do with "determining where we want to be, assessing where we are, and developing a strategy for getting from here to there." Needs assessment is only one phase of the planning cycle, which consists of identifying and prioritizing goals and determining needs according to the discrepancy between goals and the degree to which they are being achieved. The planning cycle also includes the development of program and instructional objectives, program development and implementation, program monitoring and evaluation, and feedback and recycling. (Author/DN)