The initial year (1978) of the five year program, the Chama Valley Independent School District (CVISD)/University of New Mexico (UNM) Teacher Corps Project, involved an intensive collaborative effort to define and delineate specific project requirements and objectives of the remaining 4 years of the project's duration. The major tool for this definitive effort was a collaborative needs assessment surveying participants from all levels of the project as data sources. The outcome of this effort was the prime factor in determining the scope, direction, and focus of future project activities in the areas of development of programs, continuing education programs, and educational support systems for the CVISD. Eight indices of the educational climate in the CVISD were focused upon: (1) instructional resources; (2) instructional quality; (3) curriculum emphasis; (4) teacher-parent-child communication; (5) community involvement; (6) individual differences of pupils; (7) community/school communication; and (8) classroom discipline. Descriptions are presented of the needs assessment and planning activities involved in obtaining data from the local education agency and the UNM staff. A description is given of the processes of compiling and reviewing sample questionnaires, formulating the CVISD needs assessment task force, developing workshops for volunteers in the project, finalizing the needs assessment plans, and collecting and analyzing resulting data. All of the forms used in conducting this needs assessment activity are attached. (JD)