Chapter 7: Developing the Curriculum: Needs Assessment

Needs of Students: According to Level
Human: food, shelter, clothes, health
National: well read and well traveled
State of Region: specific needs of region
Community: opportunities available
School: test scores reveal what needs
Individual: consider individual learners

Needs of Students: According to types
Physical/Biological: move, rest, eat, etc
Sociopsychological: Affection, acceptance, belonging, success, security
Educational: shift with societal priorities
Developmental Task: each stage of life from infancy to later adulthood

Needs of Society: According to Levels
Human: freedom from war, disease, etc.
International: limited resources, poverty, communication, globalization, etc
National: citizenship in democracy
State: requirements...exit exams?
Community: economic and population shifts
Neighborhood: income/resources/location

Need of Society: According to Types
Political
Social
Economic
Educational
Environmental
Defense
Health
Moral and Spiritual

Needs of Society: by types
Social Process: Curriculum specialist who seek to delineate social processes or functions do so in order to identify individual needs that have social origins.

Social Processes according to Herbert Spencer 1859: page 197

Objective of a curriculum needs assessment
Identify needs of learners not being met by existing curriculum
Form a a basis for revising the curriculum in such a way as to fulfill as many unmet needs as possible

Conducting a Curriculum Needs Assessment
Perceived Needs Approach: get opinions of teachers, students, and parents through surveys
This is a starting point, not end all
Get the facts not just perceptions

Data Collection
Background info re: community, student body, staff
Student Records
School District Files
Classroom Observations
Examination of Instructional Material
Surveys

Needs Assessment Steps
Setting and Validating curriculum goals
Prioritizing curriculum objectives
Converting goals to objectives
Prioritized curriculum objectives
Gathering data
Identifying unmet curricular needs
Prioritizing curricular needs
Implementing prioritized needs
Evaluating success of prioritized objectives