Needs Assessment
The Whole School Reform process begins with a needs assessment. Using resources and rubrics developed by the International Center, the needs assessment compares the educational practices and programs of your school with education research and best practices of successful schools identified by the International Center. The purpose of the needs assessment is to inform decisions on a comprehensive plan to improve student performance.

The needs assessment consists of a review of school data, site visits by International Center consultants, and the development of an individualized action plan describing strengths, challenges, and recommended strategies for the next steps in school improvement. The site visits consist of on-site collaboration with school leaders, faculty, students, and community partners to identify assets, potential barriers to greatness, and opportunities for significant school improvement. Items of focus include:

• Use of Learning Criteria to Support 21st Century Learners™ to assess and plan
• Use of the Components of School Excellence rubric
• Application of national best practices and cutting-edge research
• Keeping individual school plans focused on a limited number of priority goals
• Strengths, challenges, and a prioritized list of actions to move the initiative forward

Strategic Planning
Based on the needs assessment, the International Center assists in the development of a comprehensive strategic plan for your school. An International Center consultant facilitates the strategic planning process to:

• Create consensus around priority goals
• Develop strategic action plans for each priority goal
• Align priority goals to the school performance goals of your state

The strategic planning process empowers school leadership teams to build broad-based support for priority goals and to develop an Individualized Action Plan (IAP) for continuous school improvement. The process also helps school leadership teams understand the Learning Criteria to Support 21st Century Learners and the Components of School Excellence as methods to measure school success and to build the capacity to implement whole school reform.


For additional information, please fill out the Information Request Form. You can also contact Todd@LeaderEd.com or call us at 518-723-2060.