One Needs Assessment FAQs

General FAQ


General FAQ

What is the One Needs Assessment?
The One Needs Assessment is a tool designed to allow districts (including community schools) and schools to identify all their needs in a single location to drive impactful planning and funding applications. Starting in January 2021, the CCIP Needs Assessment is no longer available. All districts and schools are to use the One Needs Assessment.  
 

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How does the One Needs Assessment relate to ED STEPS?
ED STEPS will enable districts and community schools to develop one comprehensive plan for student growth and leverage all its federal and other resources to fund that plan rather than creating programs based on available funding. This “funding the plan” rather than “planning to fund” approach is expected to better serve students, educators and communities. This should make it easier for districts and schools to coordinate administrative planning with program planning and implementation. The One Needs Assessment is an essential component of the ED STEPS business process. The One Needs Assessment prototype will help the Department develop the ED STEPS One Needs Assessment.
 

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Who is required to complete the One Needs Assessment?
All organizations that complete a consolidated funding application including districts and community schools are required to complete comprehensive needs assessment(s) and plan. All buildings that receive Title I schoolwide funding are required to complete the One Needs Assessment and plan. School labels also determine if a One Needs Assessment and plan is required. Buildings that are labelled priority, focus or watch, along with all buildings within Moderate D/F, Intensive, or ADC districts must complete the One Needs Assessment and improvement plan. More information regarding if a One Needs Assessment and plan is needed at the district and building level can be found in the CCIP Document Library under FY21 school labels flowchart.  
 

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How do I find and access the One Needs Assessment?
With the appropriate Ohio Educational Directory System (OEDS) access, the One Needs Assessment will be a tile in the Applications section of your OH|ID account. The One Needs Assessment User Manual lists and defines the available roles – please reference this document when identifying the appropriate role.  “Data Entry - Decision Framework” role is required to make changes to One Needs Assessments. To obtain the appropriate role in OEDS, speak with your district OEDS Administrator.
 

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I am preparing to complete the One Needs Assessment in my district or school. Who should be involved in completing the One Needs Assessment?
Districts should involve all key personnel and stakeholders of the school or district.  Typically, District Level Teams, Building Level Teams, and Teacher-based Teams lead the needs assessment process. In addition, key personnel such as fiscal, transportation, food service, etc., should be included.  The inclusion of key stakeholders is vital in conducting a comprehensive needs assessment.  These stakeholders should include parents (parental input required for Title I buildings/districts) and students, but also community agencies and school or district partners.
 

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How do I search for my district or school in the One Needs Assessment?
Open the One Needs Assessment application. Click on One Needs Assessment from the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. Use the Search filters to find your district or school(s). It is important to note that you must have the appropriate roles in OEDS to access a district or school’s needs assessment. Please refer to the One Needs Assessment User Manual for additional instructions on how to complete the One Needs Assessment.
 

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Once I have searched for my district or school in the One Needs Assessment, how do I complete my One Needs Assessment?
The questions are organized into question groups within one of eight broad Improvement Areas (Sections). For example, within the Fiscal Management improvement area section, the question group names are Internal Controls, Financial Management, Budgeting and Procurement. Quick access to the questions can be found at the top of the Improvement Area section. Required (*) and Recommended (R) questions are denoted here.  Districts and schools also have optional questions that may further assist to identify their needs. The district or school should complete relevant questions within each question grouping. A Root Cause question will appear under each set of question groups. The Root Cause prompts the district or school to assess the underlying causes for that question group, which will aid in developing the district or school plan. Finally, the district will select whether the subject of the question group is a Priority Need for the district.
 

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Once I have completed the questions, how do I complete the Priority Needs tab?
Unlike the former Decision Framework, you want to answer question groups in all areas that the district has identified as a need, even if the question groups are not required or recommended. All Priority Needs selected from the eight Improvement Areas (Sections) will be pulled into the Priority Needs tab. Within this tab, a district or school will be able to review the Priority Needs it has selected. At this stage, the district or school will choose the Priority Needs it wants to send to the CCIP One Plan. This step is critical in defining goals and strategies for building and district three-year plans. Careful consideration must be given to identify which priority needs will be the main focus of the building or district three-year plan. 

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Why is it important to select other improvement areas on the Priority Needs tab?
Selecting other improvement areas are critical in the development of your plans because these improvement areas become the topic for strategies in the plan. As you are selecting additional improvement areas, think of other topics you need to include in order to address your priority need(s). For example, in English Language Arts besides curriculum, instruction, and assessment you might also need to include leadership and professional capital.

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How will the Priority Needs identified in the One Needs Assessment appear in CCIP?
Priority Needs and selected Additional Improvement Areas on the Priority Needs Tab will become the outline for the district or building plan goals and strategies in the CCIP planning tool.
 
 

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What makes a question Required or Recommended for my district/school?
The new One Needs Assessment prototype has built in “triggers” to identify required or recommended questions based on district and/or school data. Questions are classified as Required or Recommended due to a federal or state statutory requirement and/or district and school level data.  A list of triggers and questions can be found with the training materials on the One Needs Assessment website.
 

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What if a building does not have any required or recommended questions?
Based on local data, districts and schools can choose to answer questions in non-required or recommended sections, define root causes, and submit as priority needs to the CCIP One Plan. It is recommended that Building Level Teams meet to discuss areas of improvement even if questions are not triggered in the One Needs Assessment.
 

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There are schools in my district that are merging for the next school year. Do I need to complete the One Needs Assessment for all the schools?
No, you will only have to complete the One Needs Assessment for the inherited IRN for the merged school.
 

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Are there any training materials and if so, where can I access them?
Training materials for the One Needs Assessment can be found here.
 

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Who do I contact if I still need support to complete the One Needs Assessment?
Questions should be sent to: EDSTEPS.OneNeedsAssessment@education.ohio.gov.

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Last Modified: 5/10/2021 10:00:33 AM