Incorporating the Child Functioning Module – Teacher Version in Belize

• In Event: Disability inclusion in Education Management Information Systems

Proposal

To monitor the outcomes of children with disabilities and to refer children for services, schools must identify children with disabilities. Education Management Information Systems are an important tool that can be used for that purpose, but for that to happen they need a validated instrument appropriate for school settings that a teacher can implement in a timely and efficient manner. UNICEF and the Washington Group (WG) on Disability Statistics adapted their Child Functioning Module (CFM), designed for surveys), to be used for school administrative data. This Child Functioning Module – Teacher Version (CFM-TV) was recently tested in several countries by UNICEF, USAID, and the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB). Based on those results it was approved and recommended for inclusion in EMIS’s.
This presentation will explain the CFM-TV methodology and report on the results of testing it in Belizean primary schools in 2024. That testing compared parental responses to teacher responses. As parental responses to the CFM have been well validated, the presumption was a high level of agreement between teacher and parental responses would validate the instrument. The results showed there was a high level of agreement, but teachers were slightly more likely to identify children with learning disabilities. This may have been because of the school setting (where particular types of learning occur) and the teachers’ greater familiarity with learning expectations for children at particular ages.
Teachers also reported that not only did the CFM-TV not pose an undue reporting burden, but that by focusing their attention on various aspects of functioning, it helped them come to a better understanding of their students’ needs. It was also clear, though, that the acceptance of the additional administrative burden was much higher because there was an understanding that the school system was committed to using the information to provide services.

Author

• Daniel Mont, Center for Inclusive Policy