Educational Improvement and Assistance
LANA (Louisiana Needs Analysis)
Overview
The Louisiana Needs Analysis (LANA) is a Web-based tool designed to help school personnel evaluate school performance and academic performance. It was developed by the Louisiana Department of Education using research on school effectiveness and productivity.
Using LANA, school personnel can:
- Select strategies for school improvement
- Get information on implementing school improvement strategies
LANA produces a Data Notebook. School personnel use the Data Notebook to develop strategies and activities for their School Improvement Plans (SIP).
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How It Works
LANA is an eight-step process:
Step 1: District officials identify schools to participate in LANA.
Step 2: The District Accountability contact registers online for LANA by going to http://ossp.doe.louisiana.gov/LANA/.
Step 3: District Assistance Teams (DATs) or School Support Teams (SSTs) develop sampling frames. The sampling frames include:
- A faculty needs assessment
- Classroom observations
- A summary form
- Questionnaires
- Interviews
- Focus groups
Step 4: The Louisiana Department of Education (LDE) sends usernames and passwords to the district official.
Step 5: Leaders and members of the District Assistance Teams (DATs) or School Support Teams (SSTs) collect school data.
Step 6: The District Accountability contact submits all LANA data online by the end of the collection period.
Step 7: The District Accountability contact goes online to generate the report.
Step 8: LDE e-mails the LANA Data Notebook to the district accountability contact. The LANA Data Notebook is a PDF file that contains a compilation of data based upon:
- Classroom observations
- Faculty needs assessments
- Questionnaires from parents, students, instructional staff and administration
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Sources of Information
LANA examines eight domains:
- School climate
- School culture
- Family and community relationships
- Leadership
- Curriculum, instruction and assessment
- Professional development
- Coordinated resources
- System issues
LANA also uses input from several data sources, including attitudinal data, behavioral data, cognitive data and contextual data.
Louisiana's School and District Accountability System measures school performance by four indicators:
LANA combines these indicators to provide a baseline for projecting a school's growth target. Growth targets represent the amount of progress a school must make every year to reach the state’s School Performance Score (SPS) goal of 120 by the year 2014.
| Must a School Conduct a LANA? |
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| Yes |
No |
| If a formal needs assessment (such as LANA) has not been done in the last 3 years |
If a formal needs assessment (such as LANA) has been done in the last 3 years; however, classroom observations and analysis of cognitive data must be done annually |
| If significant changes have occurred at the school (leadership, demographics, grade configuration, etc.) |
If a Scholastic Audit has been conducted within 3 years |
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