Community Needs Assessment

TEL 410
Ashley Stahlhut

Step #1: Brainstorm a list of educational issues and concerns that exist in your
community.

1. Easy access to language learning 6. Increasing violence/instability in a

opportunities for English Language neighborhood which led to school
Learners closure and a return to remote
learning.

2. Easy access to information for 7. College students living in poverty.

parents on how they can advocate for
their child with learning disabilities

3. Lack of access to reliable internet 8. Transportation difficulties: bus lines

and technology for remote school either eliminated, or reduced
lessons frequency and number of stops.

4. Access to basic necessities (food, 9. Making information about adult

weather appropriate clothing, stable education classes more widespread
home, etc.) and available in a variety of
communities.

5. Resources and information being 10. Closure/reduced hours at public

only available in English libraries.

Step #2: Choose three areas (from the list above) in which you think you can make a
difference in the next few weeks.

1. Resources for English Language Learners

2. Easy access to information for parents on how they can advocate for their child with
learning disabilities
3. Making information about adult education classes more widespread and available in a
variety of communities.

Step #3: After you select your three issues, answer the following questions for each
issue. Strong academic writing is expected. Please use APA Formatting where
appropriate.

○ What is the effect of the issue in my community?

○ What does this mean to my local school, school district, and students?
○ What is the cost of not doing anything on this issue?
○ What possible actions can be taken? What are the consequences of these
actions?
○ Who else cares about this issue in my community?
○ Research one organization that is currently advocating for this education
issue. Summarize the organization’s goals, mission, and the type of
advocacy opportunities the organization provides.

Issue #1: Easy access to language learning opportunities for English Language Learners

Minneapolis is home to people from all across the world, and many of those
people are still learning or wanting to improve their English language skills. For those
that are not able to find classes or tutoring sessions, or be able to make it work in their
schedules, their prospects for a better job, continuing education, and being able to
communicate more effectively they may possibly be missing their potential for the
community and themselves. English Language learners come from all walks of life and
are a wide variety of ages, so the impact of having a student who is not easily able to
read and write in English will most likely hurt school performance and perhaps even
confidence in themselves. The cost of not doing anything about this issue is that it
would impact multiple generations of people, younger students would have more
difficulty in school and adults may have a harder time finding or being able to access a
wide variety of careers. Some actions that can be taken is ensuring that information
about existing programs is spread in places that will be seen by those who need it, and
in a variety of languages. I feel that educators across the board care about this issue
because they want their students to be enabled to do their best, and having a language
barrier can make reaching that goal much more difficult. One organization that I found
is actually run through the University of Minnesota in their Continuing and Professionals
program. This program offers a wide variety of resources including, academic language,
ESL testing, student English language support, etc. Their mission statement and goals
is as follows:
“Improve English language skills of students at the University of Minnesota, helping
them develop cultural understanding and the communication, critical thinking, and
academic skills needed to be successful in academic, professional, and social settings.

Help internationalize the University of Minnesota by providing native speakers of other

languages access to the University, serving as a resource to University programs and
faculty who work with multilingual students, and fostering greater understanding of
linguistic and cultural diversity.

Support the ESL profession by offering training opportunities for ESL teachers,
providing continued development for ESL professionals, and contributing to the field
through presentations, publications, and collaboration on research in second-language
teaching and learning.” (Minnesota)

Issue#2: Easy access to information for parents on how they can advocate for their
child with learning disabilities.

Having recently become my own advocate on my learning disability that was finally
diagnosed as an adult, I understand now more than ever how important having access
to resources (and being able to find them) is to beginning that process. For parents
whose child either has been or is in the process of getting diagnosed with a learning
disability, having the knowledge and resources on how to advocate for their children’s
rights when it comes to their learning makes all the difference in the outcome of their
child’s educational career. If parents are not able to access resources for their child, the
impact on the community is that not only are the children impacted during their school
years but into adulthood as well. There are notable long terms effects, according to an
article by Lakaye, these students tend to have problems with effort investment,
maintaining a positive mood, increased loneliness, and a sense of hopelessness. (2006,
p. 434) Learning disabilities do not simply go away after childhood, and most likely will
impact job performance and how they work within their community.

Schools and school districts now more than ever it seems, continue to suffer from lack
of funding, staffing issues, and arguably a continuing value of getting good
standardized test scores over the different realities each student, school, district, and
state live in. Students with learning disabilities can easily be lost in this shuffle, so it is
important for parents to be advocates for their children and make sure that the school
is able and willing to appropriately accommodate their child. Some actions that can be
taken, and one that I think is most important, is that school professionals from teaching
staff to guidance counselors and paraprofessionals are able to create a positive
relationship with parents and students so that they are able to give that student the best
environment for success possible. Next, would be to have resources not only easily
available but in multiple different languages. The consequences of these actions mean
that staff and parents are able to work together and that the parents are also able to
seek out information themselves to be able to advocate as well. Other than parents, the
students personally affected, and school administrators I would argue that other adults
(like myself) who either never received help, or went undiagnosed into adulthood care
about this issue as well. If my ADHD had been caught and addressed early in my
childhood, and even into adulthood as I struggled to self-advocate for myself, I can only
imagine how not only it would’ve made things so much easier for me to learn in a way
that works better with how I think and cognitively function, but the self-confidence I
would’ve been able to maintain as well.

One group I found called the Learning Disabilities Association of Minnesota functions in
a variety of ways to help people with learning disabilities in the community, as well as
being a good source of information on the subject. Their mission goes as follows, “LDA
Minnesota serves individuals, families and communities impacted by learning
differences, equipping and inspiring learners to thrive and lead fulfilled lives.” (LDA,
2020) LDA offers a variety of services from diagnostic assessments, workshops,
tutoring, executive function skill building, etc.

Issue #3: Making information about adult education classes more widespread and
available in a variety of communities.

Adult basic education is something that, over time in my Educational Studies courses, I
have become really interested in and consider it as a possible career after graduation.
For a wide variety of reasons, whether it be problems in their early education careers,
immigrating, or simply wanting to improve a variety of skills, adult basic education is a
very important resource for the community. Minneapolis is home to one of the largest
populations of Somali refugees in the United States, as well as becoming home to
Mexican, Russian, Hmong and many other immigrants of all ages and life experiences.
For many of these people, being able to access classes like English, literacy, job skills,
computer skills, etc. means that they have a better chance of upward mobility that ends
up equaling up to much happier, and successful communities. In terms of what these
means for school, school districts, and students it means that organizations that
provide these services have a great opportunity to get their message out by reaching
out to local schools. Students in these schools may then be able to bring this
information home to a family member. There actually are a number of school districts
that also offer adult education to some capacity already. I think, maybe not exactly
knowingly, that a lot of people find this important. Assimilation doesn’t have to be the
answer, by making education accessible and helping people improve their language and
job skills it helps to bring them closer to the communities they live in and may help to
bring in more tolerance as well. An awesome organization that I volunteer for currently
is Literacy Minnesota. I like to describe it as sort of a network of smaller organizations
and school districts that offer a vast array of services, assessments, courses, etc. Their
vision is, “To share the power of learning through education, community building and
advocacy.” Their mission aligns quite well with what we’re working towards in this
course and I’ve also been thinking about building a career there as well because I
believe so passionately in their work. Together, all of the organizations within Literacy
Minnesota provide classes like English language, computer literacy, basic job skills,
parenting etc. They also provide assessments to place students into classes that best
suit their skill level and work with community members to volunteer and help provide
additional services to classrooms to better assist the students and teachers. If more
people were able to find and easily access general and contact information about
organizations like this it would make it that much easier to provide this much needed
service to communities all over the Twins Cities area.

Step#4: After you have analyzed your three issues (Step #3) Please select one issue
that you are most passionate about to engage in an advocacy project for this
semester. You will need to determine if it is the right and most effective cause for you
to engage in.

The issue I plan to advocate for this semester is……..

Issue #3: Making information about adult education classes more widespread and
available in a variety of communities.
 References

Impact & mission. Literacy Minnesota. (n.d.). Retrieved October 19, 2021, from

https://www.literacymn.org/impact-mission.

Lackaye, T. D., & Margalit, M. (2006). Comparisons of Achievement, Effort, and

Self-Perceptions Among Students With Learning Disabilities and Their

Peers From Different Achievement Groups. Journal of Learning Disabilities,

39(5), 432–446. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222194060390050501

LDA Minnesota. Learning Disabilities Association of Minnesota. (2020). Retrieved

October 19, 2021, from https://www.ldaminnesota.org/.

Minnesota English language program. College of Continuing & Professional

Studies. (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2021, from

https://ccaps.umn.edu/minnesota-english-language-program.