Disability Data in Schools: Testing the Child Functioning Module – Teacher Version (CFM-TV) in Emergency and Protracted Crises
Context: Improving access to education for persons with disabilities depends upon reliable data, but this is often expensive, inefficient and inaccurate. This study, conducted by Humanity & Inclusion with the support of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), investigated the use of the Child Functioning Module – Teacher Version (CFM-TV) in challenging contexts. The CFM-TV is a tool designed to assess the functional difficulties of students through teacher evaluations.
General and specific objectives: The DiDa-Schools project aims to contribute to the production of dependable data on disability in school settings in fragile contexts. The first specific objective was to assess the comprehensibility of the CFM-TV by the target respondents. The second and main objective was to assess the reliability of the CFM-TV. The project assesses the consistency of results when repeated in identical conditions (same teachers assessing the same learners, three weeks apart) and the degree to which it agreed with other data collection methods by other respondents (CFM by caregivers and self-report). Finally, the research aims to evaluate the feasibility and practicability of the CFMTV in real school/classroom situations.
Methods: The research is implemented in Uganda, in the Kyaka II settlement. This research employs a mixed-methods approach. First, cognitive interviews were led with teachers and learners over 12 years in two randomly selected schools. To explore the CFM-TV reliability, three other schools were randomly selected, with one class per grade randomly selected from each school, making a total of 21 classes and then 21 teachers. Quantitative surveys were administered within three groups: teachers (two sessions, three weeks apart), caregivers, and learners over 12. Finally, 3 focus group discussions and 5 case studies were conducted to assess the feasibility of implementing CFM-TV in other school settings.
Findings: Teachers' feedback on the questionnaire was generally positive, even if disparities emerged between functional dimensions. Results point towards a moderate level of agreement between the two assessments done by the teachers 3 weeks apart. Teachers generally showed determination in assessing students, even with large classes. However, teachers and caregivers showed limited agreement in their assessments of the disability status of children based on their roles, experiences, and priorities – teachers focusing on the learning perspective and caregivers on the child's well-being perspective. Finally, CFM-TV's catalyst effect on inclusive teaching includes positive changes in teacher attitudes and practices, as well as unexpected improvements in learner dynamics and participation.
Conclusion: The research highlights how teachers can effectively use the questionnaire to assess students and generate reasonably reliable disability data as proxies. The CFM-TV can be a promising tool in supporting inclusive education efforts in such difficult situations. Teachers and caregivers can be proxies to assess the disability status of children but the data produced will not get the same meaning and will not be relevant for the same purposes.