Abstract
Disability disaggregation of Fiji’s Education Management Information System (FEMIS) is required to determine eligibility for inclusive education grants. Data from the UNICEF/Washington Group Child Functioning Module (CFM) alone is not accurate enough to identify disabilities for this purpose. This study explores whether combining activity and participation data from the CFM with data on environmental factors specific to learning and support needs (LSN) more accurately identifies children with disabilities. A survey on questions related to children’s LSN (personal assistance, adaptations to learning, or assessment and assistive technology) was administered to teachers within a broader diagnostic accuracy study. Descriptive statistics and correlations were used to analyze relationships between functioning and LSN. While CFM data are useful in distinguishing between disability domains, LSN data are useful in strengthening the accuracy of disability severity data and, crucially, in identifying which children have disability amongst those reported as having some difficulty on the CFM. Combining activity and participation data from the CFM with environmental factors data through algorithms may increase the accuracy of domain-specific disability identification. Amongst children reported as having some difficulty on the CFM, those with disabilities are effectively identified through the addition of LSN data.
Highlights
Education Management Information System (EMIS) in low- and middle-income countries because it is the basis of funding eligibility decisions at an individual student level
We have shown that combining activity and participation data from the Child Functioning Module (CFM) with data on environmental factors through algorithms enables domain-specific disability identification for the purpose of disability disaggregating Fiji’s Education Management Information System (FEMIS)
Certain learning and support needs (LSN) are common to children with various disability types and, whilst useful in identifying which children have disability amongst those reported as having “some difficulty” on the CFM, these LSN items are not as useful in distinguishing between disability domains
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. To provide quality education for all, education systems in low- and middle-income countries are striving to transform to meet the diverse learning needs of all children. This requires approaches and policies that understand and value diversity in students’ abilities, needs, and individual characteristics. Whilst access to disability-inclusive education should ideally be accorded without requirements for eligibility, in reality, providing special measures, such as reasonable accommodation or individual supports, means that definitions and parameters for eligibility must be determined [1]
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