A manual was developed to assist administrators to assess the needs of their institutions, parents, students, staff, and educational programs relative to bilingual program planning. A second area of focus is the identification of Lau students, or students whose home language is other than English and who are not performing conceptually and linguistically at a level equal to or better than the district standard of proficiency. The core of the manual is a Needs Assessment Bank of Questions addressed to different role groups and covering a wide range of issues. Questions pertinent to particular needs and addressed to specific role groups can be selected for survey instruments, interview questionnaires, and other devices. The purpose and use of needs assessment for bilingual education planning are discussed to provide a general approach to needs assessment implementation. The discussion focuses upon: (1) identification of goals, (2) design of assessment procedures, (3) development of assessment instruments, (4) development of sampling plans, (5) collection of data, and (6) analysis of data. A brief discussion of the purpose and methods of conducting a sociocultural survey of the students' community is included. (SW)