Bibliographies : Save the Children (UK) : Towards Inclusion: SCF UK's Experience in Integrated Education - Contents

Towards Inclusion: SCF UK's Experience in Integrated Education

Planning for IE - Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact

Introduction
An important monitoring and evaluation principle is to ensure that lessons are learnt and fed back into the programmes. Other important purposes are to help in policy development, to find ways of approaching problems and for advocacy and influencing.

'Monitoring is the systematic and continuous assessment of the progress of a piece of work over time and is an important component of implementation, while evaluation is the assessment at one point in time of the impact of a piece of work and the extent to which stated objectives have been achieved.' (SCF Toolkits, 1994)

The selection of relevant information, the way it is collected, analysed and used; and who is involved at different stages will vary according to the type and purpose of the monitoring system, and the size and structure of the programme.

Monitoring of some kind is always essential. Monitoring systems should include information about process (use of inputs, progress of activities and the way they are carried out) and impact (progress towards achieving objectives). The country examples of monitoring in IE activities are mainly related to programme monitoring but include reference to both process and impact.

Indicators are ways of showing that progress has been made, that something has happened, or that an objective has been achieved. Examples are school attendance of disabled children, level of satisfaction with schooling by families with a disabled child. Some indicators are quantitative and can be measured using figures. Some are qualitative, and need to be measured using qualitative questions. Both types of indicators are referred to in the country examples.

Operation research and feasibility studies are also other important ways one can know more about the situation of IE, such as indigenous care, family-based education of disabled children, coping strategies.

A considerable amount of documentation will occur as a result of monitoring and evaluation systems. Systems will have to be developed to address who is responsible for coordinating this crucial information function. This is necessary to ensure that the decisions are taken on which are the key IE programme areas which need to be monitored and evaluated, and how will the information be analysed and utilised.

Numerous references were made in the above section on activities which will need to be monitored or evaluated, for example, attitudes towards disability and schooling in families, communities and teachers (situation analysis), the pace of putting new ideas into practice (implementation). Those points will not be repeated here but they should be kept in mind throughout this section.

Government Legislation and Policy
The international agreements, legislation and policy cited in the Situation Analysis should be monitored. For instance, does a disability act exist and how child-oriented is it? The government rapport on the Convention on the Rights of the Child offers another impor tant opportunity to monitor government action. In some countries such as the Philippines, national NGOs submitted an alternative report on the CRC which included how the government was meeting those sections of the CRC which are particularly concerned with disability and IE, e.g., Article 28, 29: The right to education, 39, 23: The right to physical and psychological rehabilitation and social integration, 23: The right to a full and decent life that promotes self-reliance and facilitates the child's active participation in the community.

DPOs and SCF should try to ensure that government policy respects the rights of disabled persons and children. This type of collaboration has occurred in Lesotho.

Government Organisation
The extent of involvement of different sectors and levels within government organisations in monitoring and evaluating IE programmes is an important indicator of performance for government organisations. Do those government departments responsible for supporting IE activities take the programme seriously, do they care if the programme succeeds? Positive examples where there is commitment, for programme success are Anhui, and Laos. In Laos, for instance, there was active involvement and senior Ministry of Education personnel as evidenced by their full participation in awareness raising and training sessions. Moreover, implementation is continually monitored by MoE district prefecture teacher trainers in Laos.

Another important indicator is the organisational changes and decisions that support IE. There are numerous country examples of these changes.

• changes which have occurred in the school grading system in Anhui
• government circular allowing integration in Vietnam
• staff given administrative responsibilities in Anhui
• committees established with responsibility for decision-making and implementing IE in Anhui and Laos
• Primary Education Department in Thailand taking on responsibility for IE for the blind

The extent to which government organisations are responsive to the changing needs of disabled children is another important factor to be monitored. This can be assessed by identifying the changes that have come about in the past few years, for instance, in relation to resources allocation.

The impact of IE programmes on other levels, sectors, provinces can be judged by the increased interest, visits, and requests for information. This has happened in Anhui and Laos.

School Factors
Monitoring systems for assessing changes in schools can incorporate some of the following aspects:

• keeping records of childrens' progress (assessing children) as in Lesotho
• internal/external management system as in Laos and Anhui
• assessment for children before and after enrolment in school as in Vietnam
• records of teaching plans and activities as in Anhui
• annual reports by head teachers and local administrators as Anhui and Lesotho
• accounts by parents of the effect of IE on their children

Some of the key indicators which can be incorporated into monitoring systems and which should be evaluated in regard to school factors would be:

• socialisation of children in school and in society
• reduction in repetition and dropout rates
• changes in childrens' and teachers' knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour < LI>change in community relations, participation, support for IE
• change in school policy acknowledging pupil diversity
• changes in the school organisation structure to support IE programmes
• learning improvement supported

The value of carrying out on-going monitoring and undertaking evaluations of IE programmes can be demonstrated by various country examples. In Thailand an evaluation study showed that the itinerant teacher model was unsustainable and unreplicable, and the next phase of the programme will now not include that element. In Lesotho the training programme was modified in response to the findings of the feasibility study. In Anhui experience at pilot project stage led to redesigning more cost effective training, increasing the ongoing support available and slowing the development of IE in new schools so as to give time for skills to develop and confidence to be built up.

Community Factors
A key factor which needs to be assessed is the roles the disabled children, disabled adults, families, community organisations, and consumer groups play in assessing needs, planning, implementing and monitoring the IE work. Another essential factor to monitor is the changes in attitudes towards the disabled and schooling by families, communities and teachers.

There are a variety of important indicators for assessing community-level involvement in IE programmes and its overall impact. These can be grouped into a few headings:

1. Ways of Working

• community organisations, consumer groups become more child-focus and developmental in their approach

2. Quantitative Indicators

• increase number of disable children who are attending school
• DPOs are involved in family and teacher training
• increased number of community initiatives for the disable as part of CBR programmes
• increased level of community resources which are use for activities involving disabled persons

3. Process Indicators

• more community ownership of the IE activities
• participation of families, disabled children DPOs, PAs, community leaders in assessing needs, planning IE activities, and being actively involved in their implementation, and monitoring and evaluation systems
• increase level of participation of disabled persons and disable children in community activities
• increased awareness of community level groups and key individuals in IE approach
• increased support of government for community participation

4. SCF Programmes

• level of integration of IE activities into appropriate SCF and partner programmes

Training and Awareness Raising
The programme goals of training should be to achieve maximum effectiveness with minimum input, i.e. be cost-effective. Training for IE can encompass a variety of target groups as identified in the above section on implementation.

It is essential that training be monitored and evaluated within the context of the whole programme. Monitoring systems need to assess the impact of the training, but, equally important, is the influence of indirect aspects of the programme such as the technical support service, provision of a minimum level of materials, teachers salaries being paid on time.

Monitoring systems or approaches can include regular meetings which help teachers review IE strengths and weaknesses and identify what changes are needed. This has proven to be effective in Vietnam and Laos and Anhui. Also in Laos classroom monitoring is done in order to assess the impact of pre-service and in-service training.

Key indicators for training programmes are:

• changing attitudes, knowledge and skills
• changing classroom practices
• recognition by teachers of their own training needs
• changing parent behaviour and attitudes

A key impact of the IE programme, and particularly in relation to training aspects of the programme, is that teachers become better teachers of all children so it is insufficient to merely monitor the special education aspect.

External Support and Resource Requirements
Any IE programme needs to be sustainable, affordable, and effective. In relation to the influence of external support and resource requirements, this can be judged by indicators such as:

• growth in the resource and support base, such as more donor involvement in the disability and IE area
• increased government budget, both allocated and utilised
• increased community input, involvement and participation
• more direct benefits to children

Dissemination of expertise is another important factor which can be assessed by how extensively professionals and specialists share power, knowledge and skills.

Reporting procedures can be another way of regularly monitoring the programme, for instance, the reporting/monitoring procedures required by internal management and donor agencies.

Guiding Principles

• Monitoring and evaluation must feed the lessons learnt back into the programme

Further Reading

Ainscow M (Ed): (1991) Effective Schools for All: Fulton.

Coleridge P: (1993) Disability, Liberations and Development: Oxfam.

SCF: (1994) Children, Disability and Development - Conference Report.

UNESCO: (1994) The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education.

UNESCO: (1994) Special Needs in the Classroom - Resource Pack

Bibliographies : Save the Children (UK) : Towards Inclusion: SCF UK's Experience in Integrated Education - Contents

17/10/1997