Needs Assessments: From Definition to Data (Webinar)

Strengthen your school counseling program with an ASCA-aligned, practical approach to needs assessments and data-driven intervention planning. In this session, you’ll learn how to design a high-quality needs assessment using data-informed practices—so you collect feedback you can actually use, not just store.

You’ll analyze results to identify gaps in academics, attendance, and discipline disparities, while uncovering student barriers and systemic factors impacting access and success. Then, you’ll apply a clear prioritization framework to translate findings into targeted Tier 1 classroom lessons, Tier 2 small groups, and Tier 3 individual planning.

We’ll also tackle counselors’ most common questions: what to ask, how to get honest responses, and how to combine perception data with school outcome data to make confident decisions. Leave with ready-to-use structures for your counseling calendar, stakeholder communication, and measurable program impact.

Learning Objectives

The counselor will use three ASCA principles to:

• Create a Needs Assessment using Data-Informed Design
• Use data from a Needs Assessment to Identify Gaps in academics, attendance, discipline discrepancies and student barriers 
• Learn best practices in Prioritizing Interventions to direct classroom lessons, small-group topics, and individual planning based on actual respondent data

About the PresenteR

		Penny Lane Fletcher, PhD, is an experienced counselor, educator, and supervisor with 25 years of experience designing learning programs and supporting students' academic and social-emotional needs.  She serves as Assistant Professor and dissertation chair at Liberty University and was the High School Counseling Coach for the Southwest Region of Tennessee. Penny currently serves as the Prevention Counselor at Collierville High School (TN), where she supports students and faculty in addressing mental health issues and responding to crises at the state's largest high school. Her expertise includes trauma-informed practices, curriculum design, coaching, assessment, and program leadership.