McREL conducted two region-wide needs-sensing visits, meeting with governors, ambassadors, legislators, all chief state school officers and their immediate staff, a cross-section of practitioners (e.g., teachers and specialists), board of education members, all postsecondary institutions, and other service agencies. McREL also conducted an exhaustive review of strategic planning documents, demographic data, audit reports, websites, and other sources, including the Assessment of Regional Educational Needs: Reports from Ten Regional Educational Laboratories (National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance [NCEE], 2011). Finally, McREL's Pacific Advisory Board convened for two days in May 2011 to identify their perceptions of critical regional education needs. The Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education Research and Service (CEDDERS), the University of Hawai'i Curriculum Research Development Group (CRDG), and the JoDoCo Group, Inc. confirmed needs-sensing outcomes based on decades of high-quality service to the Pacific.
The priority needs include the prevailing absence of data and data archives in Pacific school systems, including longitudinal data systems, and three additional overarching needs: strengthening teacher effectiveness, effectively engaging families and communities in the education of their children, and ensuring career and college readiness.