Professional Development Needs Assessment Inventory


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Gayle Brand

Fall arrives and the school is busy with the activity of putting rooms together, team meetings to plan the first few days of school and set goals, and staff meetings to get everyone on the same page as we begin another school year together. As part of my work as a literacy coach, I distribute a Professional Development Needs Assessment to every classroom teacher. My hope in giving out this inventory is to see where teachers need help and plan professional development accordingly. This quick survey will help me group teachers with the same interests for small focused discussions, meet with individual teachers who have specific concerns/questions about instruction or data, and learn about new staff members and what they hope to get out of my support.

The Needs Assessment includes topics ranging from superficial discussions of materials to deeper, more thoughtful analyses of curriculum and learning. This variety gives all teachers possibilities for a variety of professional development over the course of the school year. I know that realistically I will not possibly get to all the wants and needs of everyone, but the survey helps me focus, and allows each teacher time to reflect on areas of strength and need.

[To view and download a copy of the Professional Development Needs Assessment, click here.]

Using the Survey to Plan Professional Development

By putting certain topics on the Needs Assessment, I remind teachers of the expectation of using these best practices in literacy. For example, last year I overheard teachers discussing with their teammates the need to make sure to make time in their daily schedules for writing workshop. This conversation was prompted because the Needs Assessment referred several times to Writing Workshop.

After receiving the inventories back from the teachers, I take a blank copy of the form and tally how often teachers have checked off each topic, to get a sense of what topics generate the most interest, and what topics I will be able to be put on the back burner for now. Topics with high interest (i.e., setting up reading and writing workshops, sharing books to use in writing workshop mini-lessons) might be potential whole staff in-service sessions. Topics that are time-sensitive (i.e., administering and analyzing the DRA, classroom design/setup) need immediate attention. I record who wants those and send out e-mails with dates to meet in a small group or talk with an individual about that topic.

Topics that several teachers indicated as an interest area (i.e. using the Literacy Resource Room materials, preparing parent volunteers for work in the classroom), could develop into a focus group. I schedule several sessions over a few months, and we gather to discuss that topic. Some issues come up as grade-level interests, so I target meetings with several different grade levels during their regular planning time to discuss areas that they will work on together (i.e., designing word study lessons, creating rubrics for writing, developing reading logs).

A majority of the Needs Assessments are returned on time to my mailbox. I do put out two reminders on e-mail about the deadline and the desire to have feedback from every teacher. I do not search out those that do not return the form. Almost all the surveys are returned with notes including more specific information about the general topics listed. For example, a teacher might identify a curricular area within a category (i.e., nonfiction literature), or they want to focus on certain group of learners (i.e., choosing books for advanced readers) within the broader topic. A few teachers (new and veterans) actually checked almost all the choices. They wrote notes about how they looked forward to assistance in any and all areas.

The teachers appreciate being given the opportunity to let me know their professional development needs, and the chance to reflect upon their practices. As the months move along, I send out several emails that ask if anyone had any new interests or needs, because I know these will change over time. I also advertise new professional books I've purchased that teachers can borrow from me in these messages. I make sure to read new Reading Teacher and Language Arts journals, so I can copy and pass along any articles that may seem of interest to specific staff members based upon the survey. In this way, I revisit the Needs Assessments throughout the year to remind myself of topics that can be weaved into staff professional development days.

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