Needs assessment is a process for identifying discrepancies between existing conditions and desired conditions. This manual details six major steps for carrying out needs assessment in a school system, along with 19 tasks and 59 subtasks. The six steps are: 1) initiate the needs assessment process; 2) conduct assessment of perceived needs; 3) verify perceived needs by objective means; 4) determine systemwide needs priorities; 5) choose needs to be addressed by improvement effort; 6) conduct a causal analysis of the needs to be improved. (Author/LD)