62 - Collecting needs assessment data using participatory and culturally responsive strategies

Abstract Information
Needs assessment is one of the priorities in extension program development (Caravella, 2006) and the foundation of a successful extension program (Angima et al., 2014). A needs assessment process must be undertaken in a participatory and culturally responsive manner to ensure data validity and usability of results by all the stakeholders. This abstract presents the participatory and culturally responsive strategies adopted in identifying the needs to inform the program development of a USDA-NIFA-funded climate-smart extension project in California. The inter- and trans-disciplinary project team consisted of state-level cooperative extension specialists and county extension educators, state climate-smart agriculture leaders, university faculty members, postdoctoral research fellows, and a doctoral student from areas such as climate science, applied climatology, geography, animal science, rangeland management, extension education, and program evaluation.
A mixed-methods design comprising (1) a review of relevant climate-smart agriculture in California and the United States, (2) an online survey of farmers, ranchers, and technical service providers in English and Spanish, and (3) focus groups in different regions of California with farmers and ranchers were used to collect the data. We also collect outcomes evaluation data at the education and outreach events during the program implementation stage, for instance, during the tree nut growers workshop in the San Joaquin Valley (Ikendi et al., 2023). Some of these outcome evaluation data are used in subsequent program development as needed. The participatory and culturally responsive strategies shared in this abstract can be useful to other extension education programs. We hope to generate a lively discussion during the poster session by inviting participants to share the participatory and culturally responsive practices they use in their extension program development.

Relevance Statement
Extension education literature is replete with studies emphasizing the importance of needs assessment for developing impactful programs (Angima et al., 2014; Kanter et al., 2021). Ghimire and Martin (2011) identified needs assessment as a key educational competency for extension educators. The value of needs assessment relies on its ability to successfully identify stakeholder needs and be empowered with the necessary information to design programs to meet those needs (Garst & McCawley, 2015). To collect relevant and usable data, needs assessments should adopt participatory and culturally responsive frameworks. Participatory needs assessment involves trained evaluators working with program stakeholders to make all important decisions (Ross & Jaafar, 2006). Culturally responsive evaluation recognizes the importance of context in relation to the situation, values, and beliefs (Hood et al., 2015).
In the poster session, we will share the participatory and culturally responsive strategies we used in instrument development and data collection in a climate-smart agriculture extension project in California. These phases correspond to two of the nine components in Hood et al.’s Culturally Responsive Evaluation Framework. We will share specific examples related to (1) reframing questions and avoiding certain words within questions to avoid negative perceptions and hostility in survey recipients, (2) steps in developing representative pilot test and main survey sampling frames, (3) plan for developing the Spanish survey version, and (4) conducting focus groups. Our presentation and the ensuing discussion with the session participants will have implications for strengthening needs assessment processes in extension education and evaluation.
References
Angima, S., Etuk, L., & King, D. (2014). Using needs assessment as a tool to strengthen funding proposals. Journal of Extension, 52(6), TOT v52-6tt1. https://joe.org/joe/2014december/tt1.php
Caravella, J. (2006). A needs assessment method for extension educators. Journal of Extension, 44(1), 1TOT2. https://www.joe.org/joe/2006february/tt2.php.
Garst, B., & McCawley, P. (2015). Solving problems, ensuring relevance, and facilitating change: the evolution of needs assessment within Cooperative Extension. Journal of Human Sciences and Extension, 3(2), 26-47. https://www.jhseonline.com/article/view/684  
Ghimire, N. R., & Martin, R. A. (2011). A professional competency development model: Implications for Extension educators. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, 18(2), 5-17. https://doi.org/10.5191/jiaee.2011.18201
Hood, S., Hopson, R. K., & Kirkhart, K. E. (2015). Culturally Responsive Evaluation. In K. E. Newcomer, H. P. Hatry and J. S. Wholey (Eds). Handbook of practical program evaluation. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119171386.ch12
Ikendi, S., Koundinya, V., Bergren, C., Taku-Forchu, N. C., Parker, L., Pinzon, N., Roche, L., Cooper, M., Zaccaria, D., Ostoja S., & Pathak, T. (2023, September 18-20). Communicating climate-smart agriculture to tree nut growers in the San Joaquin Valley of California (Poster Abstract and Presentation). Western Region of the Association for Agricultural Education Conference. Logan, Utah: United States of America.
Kanter, J. A., Clark, N.; Lundy, M. E.; Koundinya, V.; Leinfelder-Miles, M.; Long, R.; Light, S. E.; Brim-DeForest, W.; Linquist, B. A.; Putnam, D. H.; Hutmacher, R. B.; & Pittelkow, C. M. (2021). Top management challenges and concerns for agronomic crop production in California: Identifying critical issues for extension through needs assessment. Agronomy Journal 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20897
Ross, J. A., & Jaafar, S. B. (2006). Participatory needs assessment. Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 21(1), 131-154. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjpe.021.007