Multigrade classes have been recognized as part of elementary education for many years, but their special needs have been largely ignored. This manual focuses on the survey research that should predate the design of instructional management strategies in multigrade classrooms. It describes rapid and reliable ways to collect information about the numbers and locations of schools, student achievement in multigrade classes, information about teachers, and profiles about communities in which multigrade classrooms are found. The document was drafted for the Learning Technologies for Basic Education project, and its ideas were tested in Costa Rica, a country that already knew the dimensions of its multigrade education needs. Needs assessment begins with determining whether a plan is needed for national, district, or school levels. A guide is presented for developing a profile for each of these levels, and a guide for summary analysis and interpretation follows. The rapid appraisal methodology brings a first round of insights into the implementation of multigrade teaching in a country or region. (SLD)