The federal Office of Migrant Education has initiated a comprehensive needs assessment (CNA) process that is designed to assist states with improving the quantity and quality of data collection on their migrant students.
MACC staff will facilitate the meetings of the various teams that are convened to usher the CNA process through the following stages.
- A Needs Assessment Committee (NAC) will prioritize the areas of need that were identified earlier in the process, and to devise a Data Plan before July 1, 2006.
- The state migrant education program (MEP) will collect both qualitative and quantitative data over the summer.
- Between September - October, 2006, the Needs Assessment Committee will be convened in order to analyze the data that was collected over the summer and to write need statements that will form the basis for the decision-making phase of the CNA process.
- A service delivery plan will be created to guide the MEP for a three to five-year period. MACC will assist with the writing of the service delivery plan which will impact how MEP funds are allocated, what data will be collected, as well as enable the SEA to monitor the effectiveness of their various programs that serve migrant children and their families.
- Once the service delivery plan is completed, MACC will be in a position to recommend and possibly assist with the development of a differentiated approach to program improvement and professional development that will increase opportunities for collaboration among state and federal agencies (such as Title I, Part A and Title III).