CLNA Guide: How CTE Assessment Data Strengthens Your Perkins V Needs Assessment
The Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment is the foundation of every Perkins V spending decision. Use real assessment data to build a CLNA that is both compliant and genuinely useful — with specific examples for each required component.
Overview
"The Perkins V Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) requires local recipients to analyze CTE program quality, student performance, labor market alignment, educator capacity, and equity gaps at least every two years. CTE assessment platforms that provide standards-aligned readiness data — including credential pass rate projections, technical skill attainment by competency area, and performance gaps for special populations — generate the evidence districts need to document CLNA findings and justify Perkins V expenditures. Districts that use formative assessment data in their CLNA produce stronger needs documentation, more defensible funding requests, and more targeted program improvement plans."
Wayground CTE Research Brief, 2026
What the CLNA Requires: Six Areas Under Section 134(c)
Perkins V Section 134(c) mandates that the CLNA address six areas. Here is what each requires and how CTE assessment data informs it.
1. Labor Market Alignment
What the law requires: Analyze how CTE programs align to state, regional, or local in-demand industry sectors or occupations.
How assessment data helps: Assessment data shows whether students are developing the skills employers actually demand. If your CLNA documents that the IT pathway is aligned to an in-demand sector but only 47% of students pass the CompTIA Tech+ (formerly ITF+) certification exam, that is evidence of a gap between program intent and student readiness.
Data points to include in your CLNA:
- Certification pass rates by pathway (compared to state and national averages)
- Technical skill assessment scores mapped to industry-recognized competency areas
- Employer feedback on skill gaps compared to student assessment results
"The Information Technology pathway is aligned to the in-demand IT sector, which accounts for X% of regional job postings. However, 2024-25 CompTIA Tech+ (formerly ITF+) pass rates among CTE concentrators were 47%, indicating that students are not adequately prepared for the industry credential that validates workforce readiness in this sector. Assessment data from formative practice shows that students consistently underperform in the networking and security domains, suggesting instructional gaps in these competency areas."
Example CLNA Language — Labor Market Alignment
2. Student Performance
What the law requires: Evaluate CTE concentrator performance on Perkins V indicators, including technical skill attainment and credential attainment, disaggregated by student subgroup.
How assessment data helps: This is where CTE assessment platforms provide the most direct CLNA value. Readiness reports that show performance by career pathway, by competency area, and by student subgroup give you the evidence to document exactly where performance gaps exist.
Data points to include in your CLNA:
- Technical skill attainment rates by pathway and subgroup
- Credential attainment rates by certification and subgroup
- Readiness scores showing predicted pass rates before certification testing windows
- Growth data showing improvement from pre-assessment to certification readiness
"Disaggregated assessment data reveals significant performance gaps for economically disadvantaged CTE concentrators, who achieved a 39% credential attainment rate compared to 58% for non-economically disadvantaged peers across all CTE pathways. In the Construction pathway, OSHA 10-Hour pass rates for students with IEPs were 31% compared to 62% for students without IEPs, indicating a need for accommodated assessment prep resources."
Example CLNA Language — Student Performance
3. Program Quality: Programs of Study Implementation
What the law requires: Describe how programs of study are implemented, including the integration of rigorous content aligned to challenging academic standards.
How assessment data helps: Assessment data demonstrates whether programs of study are actually producing the intended outcomes. If a program of study is designed to lead to a specific industry credential, assessment data showing low readiness scores reveals an implementation gap.
Data points to include in your CLNA:
- Alignment analysis showing how assessment content maps to state CTE standards
- Program-level readiness data showing student preparedness for end-of-program credentials
- Formative assessment usage rates showing whether teachers are using data to guide instruction
"The Business and Finance program of study is designed to lead to the W!SE Financial Literacy certification. However, formative assessment data indicates that only 42% of third-year concentrators demonstrate readiness for the certification exam at the start of the spring semester. Teachers report using limited formative assessment tools to identify at-risk students early in the pathway sequence, resulting in late intervention and lower-than-target pass rates."
Example CLNA Language — Program Quality
4. Recruitment, Retention, and Training of CTE Educators
What the law requires: Describe how the district will improve recruitment, retention, and training of CTE educators.
How assessment data helps: Assessment data can reveal where teacher capacity gaps exist. If students in one teacher's sections consistently outperform another's on the same certification assessments, that points to a professional development need — not a student deficit.
Data points to include in your CLNA:
- Assessment performance variation across sections of the same CTE course
- Teacher survey data on confidence in using assessment tools and data
- Professional development needs identified through assessment data patterns
5. Progress Toward Equity
What the law requires: Describe progress toward improving equity and access for special populations in CTE programs.
How assessment data helps: Disaggregated assessment data is the primary evidence for equity analysis. A platform that tracks readiness and performance by student subgroup — economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, English learners, gender, race/ethnicity — provides the data your CLNA requires.
Data points to include in your CLNA:
- Credential readiness rates disaggregated by special population subgroup
- Accommodation usage data showing whether accommodated tools are available and being used
- Performance gap analysis comparing special populations to non-special populations peers
"English learners in CTE pathways achieved a 28% credential attainment rate, compared to 54% for non-EL peers. Assessment platform data shows that EL students who had access to read-aloud and translated direction accommodations performed 23 percentage points higher on formative assessments than EL students without accommodations, indicating that accommodated certification prep tools could significantly close this gap."
Example CLNA Language — Progress Toward Equity
6. Size, Scope, and Quality
What the law requires: Evaluate whether CTE programs meet the state-defined standards for size, scope, and quality.
How assessment data helps: Quality is demonstrated through outcomes. Assessment data showing strong technical skill attainment and credential readiness is direct evidence of program quality. Low assessment scores in a pathway that meets size and scope requirements indicate a quality issue that your CLNA must surface and your local application must address.
How Wayground Readiness Data Feeds Your CLNA
Wayground CTE generates the specific data points your CLNA requires — across all six required components.
| CLNA Component | Wayground Data Source |
|---|---|
| Labor market alignment | Certification readiness data mapped to in-demand credentials (CompTIA, OSHA, NCCER, etc.) |
| Student performance | Technical skill attainment by competency area, credential readiness by pathway, disaggregated by subgroup |
| Program quality | Standards-aligned formative assessment scores, program-level readiness dashboards |
| Educator capacity | Section-level performance data revealing instructional variation across teachers |
| Equity | Readiness data disaggregated by special population subgroup, accommodation usage reports |
| Size, scope, quality | Program-level assessment outcomes demonstrating quality of instruction and student attainment |
Building a CLNA Data Cycle With Wayground
A two-year cycle that turns assessment data into stronger funding justifications every cycle.
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Year 1 CLNA Baseline
Use existing credential attainment data — often limited to pass/fail outcomes — to document baseline gaps across your CTE pathways. Identify which areas lack sufficient assessment data to make the case for new tools.
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Year 1 Implementation
Deploy Wayground to provide formative assessment and readiness data throughout the year. Track credential readiness, competency-level gaps, and disaggregated performance across all CTE programs of study.
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Year 2 CLNA Update
Use Wayground's readiness reports, competency-level data, and disaggregated performance data for a richer, more actionable CLNA. This cycle's data is measurably more specific — naming competency domains, subgroup gaps, and readiness trends.
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Year 2 Justification
Use the improved CLNA data to justify continued or expanded Perkins V funding for the platform. The tool provides the data that justifies the tool — while simultaneously improving the outcomes the data measures.
CLNA Pitfalls to Avoid
These are the most common mistakes that lead to rejected applications or weak CLNA documentation.
Generic Language Without Data
"Students need more assessment resources" is not a CLNA finding.
"CompTIA Tech+ pass rates are 47% against a 65% target, with formative data showing underperformance in networking domains" is a CLNA finding. Specificity protects your application from being returned for additional documentation.
Missing Disaggregation
Perkins V requires performance data disaggregated by special population subgroup.
If your CLNA reports only aggregate pass rates without breaking down performance by economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, EL, gender, and race/ethnicity, it is incomplete — and the expenditures you reference cannot be approved.
No Needs-to-Spending Connection
Your CLNA identifies gaps. Your local application describes actions. There must be a clear line from each gap to each expenditure.
If your CLNA identifies low credential attainment but your budget does not include certification prep tools, the disconnect will be questioned during any monitoring review.
Stale Data
Using data from two or more years ago when more recent data is available undermines your CLNA's credibility. Use the most current assessment and credential attainment data available — formative assessment platforms provide in-year data that is far more current than state accountability reports.
Treating CLNA as Compliance Only
Many CTE directors fill in CLNA templates with generic language rather than using real data to drive program improvement. A strong CLNA built on assessment data is also a strategic planning document — one that makes your program improvement decisions more defensible and your outcomes more predictable.
Skipping the Competency Level
Reporting only that "students failed certifications" misses the insight. If your formative data shows students underperform specifically in networking and security domains, that tells you where to focus instruction — and makes your case for assessment tools even stronger.
Get CLNA-Ready Data from Wayground
Wayground's readiness reports give you disaggregated, competency-level assessment data for every CTE pathway — exactly what your CLNA needs. Request a demo to see the reporting in action.
Perkins V Resource Library
Deep-dive guides for every aspect of CTE funding compliance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Perkins V requires the CLNA to be updated at least every two years. Most states follow this biannual schedule, though some require annual updates. Check your state's Perkins V guidance for the specific timeline. You can update your CLNA at any time between the required cycle — gathering better data mid-cycle strengthens your next mandatory update.
Performance data must be disaggregated by the special population subgroups defined in Perkins V: individuals with disabilities, individuals from economically disadvantaged families, individuals preparing for nontraditional fields, single parents, out-of-workforce individuals, English learners, homeless individuals, youth in or formerly in foster care, youth with a parent in active duty military, and individuals in any other group that the eligible recipient identifies.
No — state accountability data remains the primary source for CLNA performance analysis. However, formative assessment data from platforms like Wayground supplements state data by providing more granular, timely, and competency-level performance evidence that strengthens CLNA findings and justifies targeted spending. The two data sources are complementary, not interchangeable.
The CLNA is the dominant source for your local application. Every strategy, action, and expenditure in your local application must connect to a need identified in the CLNA. If the CLNA does not document a need for assessment tools, the local application cannot defensibly include that expenditure. Reviewers check this connection — and will return applications where spending does not trace back to documented CLNA findings.
Yes. If your district already uses Wayground for other purposes, any CTE-relevant data from the platform can inform your CLNA. This data then helps justify a Perkins V purchase of the CTE-specific module as an expanded capability — turning your existing usage into the evidence base that unlocks federal funding for a broader rollout.
If a monitoring review finds your CLNA insufficient, the state may require you to revise it — potentially delaying your local application or triggering a corrective action plan. In the most serious cases, expenditures made without adequate CLNA justification may need to be returned. The safest approach is building a data-rich CLNA upfront rather than addressing deficiencies after the fact.
Turn Your Assessment Data Into a Stronger CLNA
Wayground generates the disaggregated, competency-level readiness data your CLNA needs — and the certification prep your students need to improve the outcomes it documents.