Assessments and Planning Tools
These resources are more than just templates or checklists—they are catalysts for strategic thinking, collaboration, and systems-level change. By guiding schools through structured processes of inquiry and planning, these tools help educators and leaders take a step back, ask meaningful questions, and reimagine what’s possible for their students and communities. They encourage schools to look closely at what already exists—the strengths, assets, and relationships that can be built upon—while also surfacing the gaps and needs that must be addressed to create more equitable, responsive systems.
At the same time, our tools are designed with sustainability in mind. Whether developing a multi-year plan or exploring strategies through archived webinars and learning sessions, school teams are supported in not only launching new initiatives but embedding them into the culture and infrastructure of their schools. In essence, these tools provide both the spark and the structure—helping schools translate their aspirations into actionable, community-rooted strategies that are built to last.
Needs and Assets Assessment Plan
Transformational Community Schools build their work by always: seeing the system; building goals from a root cause analysis; developing their efforts both inside and outside the school building; working at the pace of relationships; and authentically centering equity and racial justice. Central to this effort is a Needs and Assets Assessment (NAA) reflecting these practices. The NAA is not simply a set of surveys. It cannot be a task contracted to an outside organization. And it cannot result solely in a menu of programs and services people want. Instead, the NAA must be collaboratively developed by, for, and with interest holders – students, staff, families, and community members – for deep engagement, and resulting in a transformational, shared vision for their school and community. Executed well, it creates not only shared understanding about needs and assets of a school and community, but fosters collective responsibility and accountability for outcomes related to a shared vision of student success.
NAA Engagement Plan Template
The Needs and Assets Assessment (NAA) is an inclusive and systematic process for listening to and learning from students, staff, families, and community members. Developing an actionable plan is essential to successfully engage all interest-holder groups in the NAA and to provide a more accurate assessment of their experiences. With a representative NAA team, use this template to capture planning details including specific goals and strategies to engage a disaggregated supermajority of all interest holders to build a shared vision and identify collective priorities for bringing that vision to life.
NAA Monthly Work Plan Template
A transformative NAA that deeply engages interest holders in co-constructing an aspirational vision and identying collective priories for change efforts takes time and effort. Use the monthly work plan template to break this process up into manageable pieces, reflect on progress, and adjust engagement approaches to ensure that all voices are heard.
Kick Off Meeting Checklist
Use this checklist to ensure your kickoff meeting is productive, equitable, and sets the stage for a successful, community-centered assessment process.
NAA Team Structure, Recruitment & Roster
This tool will support an efficient, collaborative NAA team that represents your full community.
Whole Child and Family Support Inventory
The inventory assists grantees in assessing the availability of supports and services that align with the needs and assets of your local community.
Expanded Team Mapping Template
Team mapping and leadership identification is a precursor to the Needs and Assets Assessment (NAA). These activities are often done by a new Community School Coordinator who is learning about their school community – what work is currently happening, who is doing it, and who they might recruit to the NAA engagement team. Sometimes this is done as a solitary activity and sometimes by a small team, but all with the expressed intent of figure out how/what group can leveraged to support the NAA process and future problem solving efforts.
Resource Mapping Mini Guide
Getting to know the school and community is vital to accomplishing new and different things. Further, it requires a deep understanding of what is currently happening and what has happened in the past. A jump to action might sacrifice clarity and cause harm; interest holders may have already done significant work to create a shared vision or they may be at square one. Instead, take time to learn about and document collective goals; what is working, why, and how to build upon it; who is helping to propel progress; and what is wrong in the system and why. This well of knowledge can be drawn upon throughout each phase of community school implementation.
Site Level Assessment Tool
The Site Self-Assessment Tool, developed by the State Transformational Assistance Center (S-TAC) for the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP), is a companion tool to the Capacity-Building Strategies: A Developmental Rubric. The tool aligns with the California Community Schools Framework, its overarching values, and CCSPP statutory requirements, and is intended to guide reflection and action planning across each phase of community school implementation. It is intended for internal use, for your learning and improvement, but can also be used to support annual reporting efforts.
LEA Level Assessment Tool
The LEA Self-Assessment Tool, developed by the State Transformational Assistance Center (S-TAC) for the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP), is a companion tool to the Capacity-Building Strategies: A Developmental Rubric. The tool aligns with the California Community Schools Framework, its Overarching Values, and CCSPP statutory requirements, and is intended to guide reflection and action planning across each phase of community school implementation. It is intended for internal use, for your learning and improvement, but can also be used to support annual reporting efforts.
Implementation Plan Tool
This CCSPP Implementation Plan Template has been created by the State Transformational Assistance Center for Community Schools (S-TAC), in partnership with the California Department of Education (CDE). This template was designed to support Cohort 2 implementation applicants with the requirement of submitting an implementation plan (per site) as part of their Request For Application and to support California Community School Partnership Program (CCSPP) grantees with community school implementation more generally. It should be considered a dynamic document that is periodically updated to reflect the progress and needs of your community schools, legislative updates, and course corrections informed by your continuous improvement and school community engagement processes. The LEA is referenced throughout the template to encourage collaboration between the LEA and sites on the implementation of the CCSPP.
Sustainability Plan Template
Welcome to the Sustainability Plan Template for the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP). This plan is a required submission starting in year two of your implementation grant cycle and must be submitted along with your Annual Progress Report (APR), (this template is optional, but a plan submission is required). It is designed to assist in planning and implementing strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of your program. Additionally, it encourages reflection as part of an ongoing process of continuous improvement. The information provided will be shared with the California Department of Education (CDE) and incorporated into reporting on the CCSPP grant for the California State Legislature.
S-TAC Webinar Archives
The S-TAC Statewide Webinars provide an inclusive space for educators, staff, students, parents, community members, and CCSPP Planning and Implementation grantees to engage in meaningful learning and dialogue. Grounded in the California Community Schools Partnership Program Framework, these webinars offer insights, strategies, and best practices to support the implementation and growth of community schools. Through interactive sessions, participants explore key topics such as school climate, student support services, community engagement, and leadership development, fostering collaboration and alignment across the state.
Collective Learning Space Archives
The Collective Learning Space was an inclusive and collaborative environment designed to support CCSPP Planning and Implementation Grantees in transforming California’s schools while the Regional Technical Assistance Centers (R-TACs) were being formed. Hosted by the State Transformational Assistance Center (S-TAC), this space fostered learning, engagement, relationship-building, and shared innovation. It provided grantees with opportunities to exchange insights, explore best practices, and contribute to the statewide community schools movement, ensuring alignment and collective growth across California.