Child Friendly Schools (CFS) - Unicef

© UNICEF, East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, 2006

Any part of Assessing Child-Friendly Schools: A Guide for Programme Managers in East Asia and the Pacificmay be freely reproduced with the appropriate acknowledgement.

Design: Keen Publishing (Thailand) Co., Ltd.Printed in Thailand

ISBN:

UNICEF EAPRO19 Phra Atit RoadBangkok 10200E-mail: [email protected]

FOREWORD

The Child-Friendly School (CFS) framework, first operationalized in Thailand in 1997, was conceived as a meansof translating the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) into school management and classroom practice.The CFS framework consists of five broad dimensions: inclusiveness; effectiveness (relevance and quality);health, safety and protection; gender-friendliness; and involvement of students, families and communities.Ensuring the right of all children to a basic education of high quality is at the heart of CFS initiatives.

Ensuring that quality education is accessible to all is also fundamental to achieving all other MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs). Achievement of the MDGs – for poverty, for hunger, for gender equality, for childmortality, for access to water and sanitation – is dependent upon the success of education systems. The CFSframework, with its holistic approach to access and quality, and with the success gained through experiencesin East Asia and the Pacific region, provides the basis from which real progress towards the MDGs can be made.

While East Asia and the Pacific has made considerable advances in terms of CFS implementation, the absenceof common indicators and monitoring mechanisms for assessing CFS impact has been identified as a key issuethat needs to be addressed. Assessing Child-Friendly Schools: A Guide for Programme Managers in East Asiaand the Pacific is our attempt to respond to this need. It is important to state, however, that this document isnot intended as a prescriptive manual or rigid framework. This document is organized to provide a pool of bothoutcome and process indicators for each of the five core dimensions of CFS from which users can pick andchoose. While these dimensions are distinct, they are inter-related, and one will find indicators which are sometimes repeated under different dimensions.

It is also important to express the spirit in which the indicators here were prepared. The CFS framework isintended to describe a process whereby schools are moving to increasingly friendly environments. We do notadvocate for simple sets of indicators that result in CFS sign boards being affixed to schools. Instead, from theplethora of indicators in this CFS Assessment Guide, programme managers and school stakeholders are invited to identify their priorities, as well as to expand and build upon them as progress is made. It is hopedthat schools will become progressively more child-friendly, and that the benchmarks will continue to be raisedin an ongoing process. In the Annex of the Guide, readers can find examples of ‘Checklists’ and indicators fromcountries in the region that provide a practical basis from which programmes can build their own tools.

The intended users for this document are programme managers in governments, teacher training institutes,donor agencies, NGOs and other partners in education. It is expected that key portions of the document will betranslated into national languages, either as they are currently written, or adapted and modified to the contextand needs of specific countries. By having these comprehensive lists of indicators, it is intended that users willhave their horizons and perspectives broadened, using the contents as a basis from which they can prioritizeand make critical choices which reflect their interests and current contexts.

This document is a group effort with contributions and feedback from many sources. The key writers wereGeorge Attig supported by Jim Hopkins. While the 2004 Yangon CFS workshop was the starting point, twoother processes provided key inputs to early drafts. Firstly, Save the Children Fund (SCF) Alliance, withUNESCO Bangkok and UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO) held a CFS Workshop in Pattaya,Thailand in 2005, which dedicated one session to a review of the CFS Assessment Guideline. Secondly, peerreviews by UNICEF, UNESCO and NGO staff at the country and regional level also helped in finalizing the document in the hopes of ensuring greater relevance for intended users.

Anupama Rao SinghRegional Director

UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office

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CONTENTS

FOREWORD iii

ACRONYMS vii

PART I: INTRODUCTION

CHILD-FRIENDLY SCHOOLS (CFS) 1

The Five Dimensions of CFS 2

Objectives and Purposes of This Guideline 4

Users 4

THE CFS ASSESSMENT PROCESS 5

What is Assessment? 5

Why Assess CFS? 6

What Types of Assessment Tools Exist and Why Are They Used? 9

Who Can Use the Assessment Tools? 15

What Do We Assess? 18

What Assessment Methods Can Be Used? 21

Flexibility and Responsiveness in Assessment and Assessment Tools 27

Assessing the Child-Friendliness of Secondary Schools 27

Assessing the Education ‘System’ in Support of CFS 28

PART II: ASSESSING THE FIVE DIMENSIONS OF CHILD-FRIENDLY SCHOOLS

DIMENSION 1: ASSESSING THE INCLUSIVENESS OF CFS 31

Inclusion and CFS 31

Aim of the Assessment 31

Key Performance Areas and Outcome Indicators 31

Key Performance Areas and Process Indicators 33

DIMENSION 2: ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CFS 49

Quality Education and CFS 49




DIMENSION 3: ASSESSING HEALTH, SAFETY,

AND PROTECTION IN CFS 67

Health, Safety, Protection, and CFS 67

A Psychosocially Supportive School Enviroment 69




DIMENSION 4: ASSESSING THE GENDER-FRIENDLINESS OF CFS 89

Gender and CFS 89




DIMENSION 5: ASSESSING THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE STUDENT,

FAMILY, AND COMMUNITY IN CFS 101

Active Engagement With, and Enabling of, Student, Family, and Community 101

Participation 101




APPENDIX A: EXAMPLES OF CFS ASSESSMENT TOOLS 117

APPENDIX B: CFS-RELATED TOOLS 127

APPENDIX C: SOURCES OF INDICATORS 141

ACRONYMS

CBO Community-based Organization

CFS Child-Friendly School(s)

CNSP Children in Need of Special Protection

CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child

CWD Children with Disabilities

EFA Education for All

FGD Focus Group Discussion

FRESH Focusing Resources for Effective School Health

GENIA Gender in Education Network in Asia

ICT Information Communication Technology

IE Inclusive Education

KPA Key Performance Area

M&E Monitoring and Evaluation

NGO Non-governmental Organization

OVCs Orphans and Vulnerable Children

PTA Parent-Teacher Association

PTCA Parent-Teacher-Community Association

SHAPE School-based Healthy Living and HIV/AIDS Prevention Education

SMIS School Management Information System

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

UNICEF TTL UNICEF Teachers Talking About Learning Web site

WHO World Health Organization

WHO PSE WHO Psycho-Social Environment Profile

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1

CHILD-FRIENDLY SCHOOLS (CFS)

Child-friendly schools (CFS) are a means of transporting the concept of Child Rights into classroom practiceand school management. The Child-Friendly School (CFS) framework has been evolving since it was firstdeveloped in 1997 in Thailand. It is now firmly established as a framework that is made up of the followingfive dimensions:

1. Proactively inclusive, seeking out and enabling participation of all children and especiallythose who are different ethnically, culturally, linguistically, socio-economically, and interms of ability;

2. Academically effective and relevant to children’s needs for life and livelihood knowledgeand skills;

3. Healthy and safe for, and protective of, children’s emotional, psychological, and physicalwell-being;

4. Gender-responsive in creating environments and capacities fostering equality; and5. Actively engaged with, and enabling of, student, family, and community participation in all

aspects of school policy, management and support to children.

In principle, all programmes recognize these five dimensions as necessary and mutually reinforcing conditionsof CFS success. A school is child-friendly where all of the elements are addressed, and the ability to bechild-friendly on each dimension is enhanced by action on the others.

Recognizing the inherently interactive and integrated nature of the CFS concept is critical to creatingchild-friendly learning environments. It is also proving to be a challenge on how best to determine where,when, and how limited resources should be applied dimension by dimension and cumulatively in orderto ensure the best results, as well as the degree to which these results are truly making the schoolchild-friendly and ensuring the rights of children to a basic education of good quality. This document andthe assessment tools it presents provide a basis from which further research into the outcomes andprocesses of CFS inputs can be pursued, an endeavour that is oftentimes lacking in countries undertakingCFS programmes.

Assessing Child-Friendly Schools

THE FIVE DIMENSIONS OF CFS

1. INCLUSIVE OF ALL CHILDREN

A child-friendly school is a child-seeking school. On the surface, inclusion is fairly well understood asfundamental to CFS; nothing will happen with or for children who are not in school and who are notable to engage in learning due to their diverse backgrounds or abilities. Its main challenge remains themulti-dimensionality of exclusion. Across the region, language and culture continue as potent exclusionaryfactors, reinforced by geographic remoteness, ethnic marginalization, and lack of access to complete orwell-supplied schools. Absolute poverty matters, but hidden and opportunity costs of schooling areproving more insidious burdens on many families, especially for girls. Poor schools also matter, perceivedas adding little to future job or quality of life prospects and risking erosion of local heritage.

Exclusionary factors continue also inside the school, such as children marginalized by teachers who donot engage them, do not speak their language, do not believe they are capable of learning, and do not havethe teaching skills to handle their diversity. Ironically, removal of school fees and mass enrolmentcampaigns can add to the problem, increasing numbers, age ranges, and the diversity of learning levels,thus making child-centred and individualized instruction as well as healthy and protective learningenvironments untenable for many.

In many instances, governments have reacted to the multi-dimensionality of exclusion by focusing on ‘InclusiveEducation’ (IE) that concerns only children with disabilities (CWD), especially those with physical disabilities, orother ‘special educational needs.’ It seems easier to deal with these areas of inclusion, while paying little, tono attention, to other exclusionary factors that may be more culturally or politically sensitive, such as language,religion, or gender inequalities.

2. ACADEMICALLY EFFECTIVE AND RELEVANT FOR CHILDREN

All CFS programmes recognize effectiveness as a composite dimension, one requiring a range of enablingconditions: national socio-economic and education policy frameworks predicated on the rights of the child;pro-child social services and civil society structures; well-trained and highly motivated teachers supported byreasonable conditions of service; relevant curriculum and sufficient supplies of learner-accessible materials;and professionally capable and supportive school administrators, academic supervisors, and inspectors.

Because most of these elements are still largely missing in the region, no CFS programme is yet claiming majoreffectiveness and ‘success.’ Emphasis continues to be on communicating the holistic nature of the taskto stakeholders in ways that catalyse coherent, consistent, and concurrent action on all enabling conditions.

3. HEALTHY, SAFE, AND PROTECTIVE

This dimension is reflected most consistently in areas of clean and accessible drinking water, sanitationfacilities, and hygiene education. Critically, there is relatively little focus on creating girl-friendlycharacteristics in most of these. Nor are life skills appearing to more than a limited degree (in the form ofreproductive health, risk-avoidance behaviours, and communicable disease, and HIV/AIDS prevention).

A major gap across all programmes concerns protection and the psychosocial-emotional aspects of health.Few note intensive interventions in areas of abuse, bullying, or sexual exploitation, for example. Relativelyfew are training teachers and parents in non-violent, child-based strategies for dealing with disciplinaryissues as well as in counselling, though all recognize the need to address differences between traditional andCRC approaches to the problem.

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3Assessing Child-Friendly Schools

4. GENDER-RESPONSIVE

All projects recognize gender equality and gender responsiveness as core to the child-friendly school. Theystrenuously reiterate their importance both in realizing fully equal rights on the part of both sexes, andin mobilizing proactive outreach on the part of schools, communities, and social systems to make thishappen. Somewhat surprisingly, however, gender is not a major feature in the practice of any CFSprogramme. Most lack an explicit gender analysis or action strategy, though the tools exist and genderfocal points are becoming common within Ministries of Education.1 Beyond quantitative Education forAll (EFA) gender targets, few have established indicators for monitoring qualitative gender outcomes.None have conducted gender-specific results-oriented CFS evaluations.

Reasons for this gender gap are three-fold: the common positioning of gender under ‘inclusion,’ itsdesignation as ‘cross-cutting,’ and satisfaction with numbers only (parity) at the expense of gender equality. Allof these reasons limit visibility. It is easy to miss gender as a factor in the swath of children’svulnerabilities, and claims of mainstreaming gender allow underlying gender-unfriendly factors to be ignored.

5. INVOLVED WITH STUDENTS, FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITIES

There is broad consensus across all CFS programmes that community partnership is the ‘key building block’to realizing CFS goals. While no systematic evaluation has been done of community outreach, anecdotalevidence suggests that failure to involve parents and community members effectively blocks progress onthe other four dimensions. By including them, however, substantial progress can be made in the otherfour CFS dimensions.

The challenge is to make participation meaningful. Most CFS attention is going precisely to this aspectby building community capacity for school-based management through committees, PTAs, and educationboards; for CFS ‘visioning’ and mapping exercises; and for generating and monitoring school developmentplans, especially through the school self-assessment process.

Presumably in consequence, all countries note improvement in the extent and nature of communityparticipation, school transparency, and mutual trust. Parents are less often simply turning up to contributefunds and labour. More often, they understand the dynamics of children’s attendance and learning andgenuinely make decisions about monitoring and promoting their progress. Less positively, however, thereis a broad lack of tracking and reporting on the diversity of types, experiences, and processes ofcommunity participation.

1 GENIA Toolkit for Promoting Gender Equality in Education. UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, Bangkok. 2004. Availableonline through www.UNESCObkk.org/gender

OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSES OF THIS GUIDELINE

The objective of this CFS Assessment Guideline is to assist practitioners in understanding more fullywhat needs to be looked into and assessed if we want schools to help themselves to become morechild-friendly along the lines of the five dimensions discussed above. In this regard, this documentshould be used strictly for constructive assessment, and not for inspection or certification purposes. In theassessment process, moreover, this document may bring greater clarity on what a child-friendly schoolreally looks like, how it might operate, and what are the indicators that represent child-friendliness.

To our knowledge, there has yet to be any serious examination of the types of indicators best suited toassess the child-friendliness of schools, especially from the holistic nature that the CFS framework provides.As a result, we have tried to include indicators that can provide a basis for promoting quality. We havealso tried to ensure that practitioners referring to this document will actually focus their efforts onall five dimensions of the CFS framework, and not just those elements easiest to improve or mostpopular among stakeholders. Under the belief that CFS is a means of ensuring that Child Rightsare enshrined throughout the educational process, these indicators also try to show how a rightsperspective can be brought to bear in the context of classrooms, schools, and community supportmechanisms for education.

USERS

The primary users of this document are those persons or organizations who are funding or implementingCFS programmes in countries within the East Asia and Pacific region, though persons working in otherregions may also find it valuable. These can include UNICEF, UNESCO, international and national NGOeducation programme managers, and Ministry of Education officials, amongst others. Secondary users,for whom translations of this document may be needed, include those front-line Ministry staff engagedwith the more day-to-day aspects of managing CFS activities in the field. Sections of this document canbe used to prepare monitoring or planning tools linked to school self-assessments. Tertiary users can beactual school-based staff, including headmasters and head teachers, who are looking for insights intospecific indicators from which they can design their own self-assessment and planning tools and,ultimately, plans and activities for achieving more child-friendly schools.

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THE CFS ASSESSMENT PROCESS

WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?

Before we can justify why assessment is valuable for CFS, and why we need assessment tools, we mustfirst understand what ‘assessment’ actually means. To assess something simply means that we determinewhether or not it is valuable or worthwhile doing. For CFS, it means giving those persons andorganizations who are implementing CFS programmes the tools they need to assess the value of whatthey are doing in changing their schools or education systems so that they are more child-friendly. Some ofthese persons may already be monitoring their work – for instance, by tracking children’s learningperformance – and they may have taken part in an assessment exercise, such as school self-assessment.

Assessment has two main components: monitoring and evaluation. We monitor CFS when we regularlycollect and analyse information over time to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our schools inproviding children with a quality education in an environment that is safe, healthy, protective, inclusive,and gender-sensitive. Monitoring is intended to provide educators at all levels, donors, and otherstakeholders, such as parents and community leaders, with an ongoing indication of the progress our CFSare making. Monitoring involves:

• Establishing indicators on processes and outcomes;• Establishing procedures and systems to collect information on these indicators;• Developing tools and the procedures for collecting and recording the information;• Analysing the information; and• Using the information to improve programme planning, performance, and, thus, outcomes.

Evaluation, on the other hand, is the systematic and objective assessment of an ongoing programme, like CFS,including its design, implementation, and results. It looks at:

• What you set out to do or intended to achieve, usually based on the programme’s objectives; • What progress was made (what has been accomplished); • How this progress was achieved (e.g., was there an efficient use of resources; what costs

were incurred; how sustainable is the programme and its activities; what are theimplications for the way the school works and for its various stakeholders); and

• What difference did the programme (CFS) make (outcomes, such as improvements inchild learning performance or teaching practices).

In one country, some teachers and school administrators compared assessment to taking a busjourney along an unknown road. While they could see through the glass windows, they werehappy because they could see that they were making progress. Then rain forced them to put wooden shutters over the windows and they could no longer see their progress. They knew theywere moving forward, but they could not tell along which road, how fast, or even whether theywere nearing their destination.2

2 Adapted from: Feuerstein, M. Partners in Evaluation: Evaluating Development and Community Programmes with Participants. London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1986, p.3

While monitoring is done throughout the life of a programme, evaluation can be formative or summative.Formative evaluation usually occurs at the beginning of a programme and employs tools to identify waysof improving the strategy or the functioning of the programme. In other words, formative evaluationproduces information that is fed back during a child-friendly school’s development to help improve it. For CFS, formative evaluation could take the form of a ‘self-assessment’ to determine what characteristicsa school already has that make it child-friendly, and what still needs to be improved. The tools and indicatorsin this CFS assessment guideline can be used in this manner as a means to build a CFS programme as wellas improve upon it.

Summative evaluation, however, draws out the ‘lessons learned’ from a completed programme or individualprojects within that programme. Its tools and indicators provide information about the effectiveness of aprogramme or specific activities to those who undertook it or those who are considering adopting it.

Someone once described the difference between monitoring and evaluation as the difference between acheck-up and an autopsy!3 However, in this manual, the assessment tools and indicators include thosefor both monitoring (process) and evaluation (outcomes) because what they have in common is that theyare geared towards learning from what CFS are doing, how they are doing it, and how well they are doing it.

WHY ASSESS CFS?

THE WRONG REASONS

There are both external and internal reasons why assessment is done. Some external reasons – the onesthat often strike fear in the hearts of CFS implementers – are:

• “Because our funding agency asked for it.”• “Because the Ministry officials asked for it.”• “Because our sponsors wanted to see whether they wished to continue supporting

our programme.”

Actually, these are the reasons why assessments are often NOT done, or not done well. In such cases, CFSassessment is carried out at the ‘request’ of external parties and may not necessarily be intended toimprove the way CFS are functioning. The assessment may simply be an ‘exercise‘ that is needed foradministrative purposes to allocate funds, and not to make a decision about whether a CFS programmeshould continue to receive funding (that decision may have already been made BEFORE the assessmenteven began).

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Remember: Knowing WHY a CFS programme or its activities succeed or fail is even moreimportant than knowing they do.

3 Shapiro, J. Monitoring and Evaluation. CIVICUS. p. 3. [Online] available from: <http://www.schoolnetafrica.net/fileadmin/resources/Monitoring_and_ Evaluation.pdf> [4/1/2005]. This is an excellent toolkit for setting up and using a monitoring and evaluation system for a project or an organization.


In some cases, the assessment may be used as a way of justifying a weak or unsuccessful CFS programme,or as a way of trying to cover up areas of failure. For example, the assessment may only look at successfulparts (dimensions) of a CFS programme, and not the entire programme. On the other hand, assessmentseven have the power to destroy a good CFS programme if they focus only on areas of poor performance,and especially if they are used by persons in influential positions who may not fully support (or understand)the importance of the CFS concept.4

Moreover, in many organizations, like schools, assessment is something that is often seen as an ‘official’requirement. It may be viewed negatively as a tool to ‘inspect’ performance, with the threat of punishment. Thetrue value of assessment, however, is when its information feeds into the constructive planning andmanagement process as shown below.5

Certainly, governments and donors are rightly entitled to know whether their money is being spentproperly, and whether it is being well spent. But the most important use of assessment and the tools itemploys should be for the CFS and the people involved with them to judge for themselves how well theyare doing against the CFS objectives they have set, whether their actions are having any impact on childlearning, whether their schools and classrooms are functioning efficiently, and, most of all, to learn howto do better.

Evaluate/learn/decide

Plan

Implement

Monitor

Reflect/learn/decide/adjustImplement

Monitor

Reflect/learn/decide/adjust

Implement

4 Feuerstein, M. Partners in Evaluation: Evaluating Development and Community Programmes with Participants. London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1986, p. 45 Shapiro, J. Monitoring and Evaluation. CIVICUS. p. 6. [Online] available from: <http://www.schoolnetafrica.net/fileadmin/resources/Monitoring_

and_Evaluation.pdf> [4/1/2005].

THE RIGHT REASONS

When you ask educators why they assess their work, different people will probably give you differentanswers. However, all of these answers will usually be ‘internally’ generated; that is, they are the reasonswhy the actual participants (educators) feel they need to assess a CFS programme and to have goodassessment tools, which are usually quite different from the external reasons mentioned above.

Some of the common reasons given to the question ‘why assess CFS?’ and, by extension, why assessmenttools are needed include the following.

1. Assess achievement, so that we can see if we are making a difference or are havingan impact (positive or negative) on children’s learning.

2. Measure progress based on the objectives of the CFS programme in that school(are we meeting our objectives?).

3. Determine, and improve upon, effectiveness, that is, the extent to which CFSactivities are achieving specific objectives (for instance, if a school sets out to improve thequalifications of all teachers in a particular area, did it succeed?).

4. Identify problems and their causes.

5. Encourage action by suggesting possible solutions to problems.

6. Improve monitoring and efficiency for better management (for instance, whetherthe inputs – money, time, staff, equipment, etc. – we are putting into CFS activities are appropriate in terms of outputs. Are the costs [cost-benefit] reasonable?).

7. Identify strengths and weaknesses in order to push you to reflect on where you aregoing and how you are getting there.

8. Better planning and management of activities (based on identified strengths and weaknesses; more in line with the needs of the children, teachers, parents, andcommunities, and with their full participation).

9. Sharing experiences (to prevent others from making similar mistakes, or to encourage them to use similar methods).

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If our schools are to maintain high standards or secure improvements, they need a strategyfor appraising their own performance which complements the thorough but occasional ‘healthcheck’ provided by inspection. Monitoring and evaluation [assessment] are essential to effectiveteaching and learning in the classroom and to good management and governance of the school.6

6 James, S. and Harris, A. Raising Attainment in Schools Facing Challenging Circumstances. [Online] available from: <http:// www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/sie/documents/mod5_acts.pdf> [4/1/2005]. 2001.

Some (but definitely not all) of the important questions that assessment tools can help answer for CFS are:

• Inclusive of children: Are all children in the families with school children attendingschool, including those who should be in pre-school, and are they included andparticipating in classroom learning?

• Academically effective with children: Are we seeing declines in student failure,absenteeism, and dropout, as well as increases in teaching-learning time?

• Healthy and protective of children: Is the health and nutritional status of our childrenimproving, including a reduction in drug or alcohol use? Are we seeing declines indropouts that may be caused by the need for children to work?

• Gender-sensitive: Are girls and boys learning at equitable levels? Are they attending school at the same rate, or are girls absent more often than boys? Are the materials weare using free of gender bias?

• Involved with children, families, and communities: Do schools work with children,families, and communities on action projects designed to make communities and schoolsmore child-friendly?

Assessment, therefore, allows us to check the ‘bottom line.’ For CFS, this means: are we making a differencein providing a quality education and improving children’s learning? Through assessment, you can reviewprogress, identify problems in planning and/or implementation, and make adjustments so that you aremore likely to make a difference in children’s learning.

Finally, it is important to note that assessment and its tools are not magic wands that can be wavedto make problems disappear, or to cure them, or to miraculously make changes without a lot of hardwork. Assessment – be it monitoring or evaluation – is not a solution, but it is a tool in itself for creatingopportunities for improvement.

WHAT TYPES OF ASSESSMENT TOOLS EXIST AND WHY ARE THEY USED?

In reviewing the CFS assessment tools developed in different countries, it is evident that many differentapproaches and purposes exist for which the tools were designed. Deciding the purpose for which theCFS assessment tools will be used will greatly influence what indicators should be included and how thetools will be used.

PROCESS VERSUS OUTCOME

One key element in determining CFS assessment tools are whether they are designed to assess processesor outcomes. These two ends are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but most tools have an emphasis onone or the other. In reviewing country experiences, several CFS assessment tools have been developedto determine whether the processes being followed in schools are child-friendly. This process-focusedassessment often includes indicators that assess the participation of children, communities, and teachersin decision-making processes. For example, indicators that focus on processes can look at whether studentclubs or student councils have been formed, or whether Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) are meetingregularly, as well as what role they play in preparing school development plans. Process indicators canalso look at classroom practices, methodologies, and the use of child-centred learning activities.


On the other hand, outcome-focused assessment tools look more at what concrete impacts have resultedfrom CFS inputs. Such outcome-focused indicators can include whether an adequate number of toilets areavailable and if they are used, well cleaned, and with access to water. Outcome indicators can also includeinformation on changes in enrolment, repetition, and dropout rates for both boys and girls. While outcomeindicators have long been used to assess the quality of schools, under the CFS framework assessmenttools focusing on outcome indicators must cover a wider range of aspects concerning all five dimensions.

Several issues must be clearly considered in deciding upon and using process- and outcome-focusedassessment tools. First, it must be accepted that qualitative and quantitative indicators can be used foreither; qualitative indicators do not apply only to processes and quantifiable indicators are not only used foroutcomes. Process indicators can be quantifiable (i.e., the number of times that PTAs meet or whetherteacher meetings are organized monthly), while outcome indicators can also be qualitative. This is especiallythe case for sensitive topics like bullying or corporal punishment, which are virtually impossible to quantifyand the need to use qualitative methods is essential, such as interviews with or anonymous open-endedquestionnaires completed by children.

Another issue to be raised is the inherent risk when trying to design outcome-focused assessment tools.The risk of outcome-focused tools is that they can view CFS as an end point that can be attained andnever assessed again, in the belief that ‘child-friendliness’ is a state and not an evolving process. As a result,improved standards and renewed energy and effort can be lost when applying outcome checklists thatshow a school is, supposedly, already child-friendly. Hence, a combination of both process and outcomeindicators is needed, with local school committees continually reassessing the indicators themselves toensure that higher standards are being sought and that friendliness is a dynamic, not fixed, state of being.

PLANNING VERSUS EVALUATING

Another rationale to consider when designing CFS tools is whether the focus is on planning or evaluating.For the former, many countries make an explicit link between the data collected with the CFS indicatorsand the use of the information for developing school plans or prioritized action points. In Myanmar,for example, schools review the CFS assessment tool and can then decide to add several of their ownindicators to the list. The process of completing the assessment tool is then linked directly into thepreparation of an Annual School Development Plan, which allows the PTA and school administrationto address those aspects of the school that need the most attention. A similar process is being undertakenin Thailand through its school self-assessment strategy. Several countries also use assessment toolsas a means of assisting school communities in planning follow up action in a Triple A approach(awareness-analysis-action).

On the other hand, assessment tools can also be used to determine if the inputs and CFS efforts havebeen successful. In this regard, the tools are used more to learn whether the objectives of the CFS projecthave been met, or at least what progress has been made. Ideally, lessons can also be learned on howthe progress was made and what still needs to be done. Too often, however, CFS tools designed forevaluation are implemented well after the programme has started, thereby depriving the system ofbaseline data from which progress can be assessed. This can be overcome by comparing CFS schoolswith a control group, but it is ideal if tools for evaluating CFS inputs can be designed early on as part ofthe process of setting objectives. What is important in designing CFS assessment tools with an evaluationfocus is that the indicators allow those involved to learn what is being done in schools, to learn how it isbeing done, and to determine how well it is happening.

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One factor that influences and is influenced by whether the indicators are planning or evaluation focusedis whether the data collected are to be retained locally or submitted centrally. If the CFS assessmentprocess is locally based, with the data collected retained for local purposes, then there is usually a directlink between the assessment and follow-up plans of action. If, however, the data collected are sent todistrict or provincial authorities for collation, then the local school and community may not necessarilysee the results and may not be motivated to act. At present, there are no examples of CFS assessmenttools that are used both for local planning and as a way of informing central planners for their ownevaluation and monitoring purposes. This does not mean that it cannot be done, but it highlights thedifferent ways assessment tools are being used depending on this difference in focus.

NATIONAL VERSUS LOCAL STANDARD SETTING

A coherent national policy to promote CFS requires establishing a conceptual framework that describesthe dimensions of CFS, criteria and indicators, and the allocation of resources founded upon a sharedunderstanding of rights-based and effective ‘child-friendly education for all.’

Ideally, standards for child rights-based education should be set at the national level with the ultimategoal of applying them in all schools. In this case, ownership of the indicators rests at the central/nationallevel. However, successfully applying such a policy and sustaining incremental progress towardsstandards of child-friendliness require that the individual school-community stakeholders – parents, teachers,administrators, and students – generate their own vision of CFS and participate in measuring and analysingthe results of assessment in their own local context. In this case, ownership of the indicators rests atthe local level. Experience in school self-assessment for CFS in Thailand has shown that the items rankedwith highest priority for improvement are strongly correlated with the vision and criteria generatedby the school community itself. This is consistent with global experience in using participatory learningand action (PLA) research approaches to community development where stakeholders assign priorityranking according to their own perceived hierarchy of needs. If a centrally specified set of standards andindicators for CFS are developed, there should be some built-in flexibility to allow responsiveness to localconditions. The best approach is for countries to use a combination of centrally set indicators andlocally determined indicators in assessing school child-friendliness.

CHECKLIST VERSUS RUBRIC

The most common ways that CFS are being assessed in the region are through checklists and rubrics.The primary aim of using these tools is to draw attention to issues that the CFS programme considerscentral to promoting good practice in improving critical areas of child-friendliness.

CHECKLISTSChecklists provide a series of statements that describe what are believed to be the broad parameters ofthe issue. They are a simple and straightforward means of carrying out an assessment. For each indicator(and there may be many), the observers or assessors simply mark ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ The indicators themselvescan be written and structured in a such a way that nuance is possible (‘No’, ‘Partly,’ and ‘Yes’). However,checklists rarely allow for graduated depth of ‘child-friendliness’ in the same way the rubric can. In thecase of the Philippines, checklists are being used, but after each section, assessors are asked to tallythe score. High scores were considered closer to being child-friendly than the lower ones.

Checklists have inherent limitations built in due to the nature of the format used for rating the status ofthe school when assessing indicator items.


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‘Yes/no checklists’ force assessors to take an all-or-nothing approach, similar to true/false tests. Using non-graduated dichotomous scales results in either underrating or overrating of the actual status. For example:

If the assessor answers “yes,” the implication is that none of the teachers in the school use corporalpunishment. If one teacher out of ten in the school uses it, then the correct answer must be “no,” whichdoes not accurately reflect the actual situation, that is, nine out ten teachers do not use corporalpunishment. Experience in using yes/no checklists in the region has also shown that there is a commontendency towards a “yes” bias, especially in ratings given by school administrators and teachers,who have a natural inclination and interest in seeing their school attain high marks in assessments.

The limitations of ‘yes/no checklists’ can be overcome by using survey tools that allow assessors to ratethe school on a graduated (Likert) rating scale, which offers a better opportunity to reflect the actualstatus of the school. The following example is from the School Psycho-Social Environment (PSE) ProfileQuestionnaire of the World Health Organization (WHO), which is referred to in this text as the WHO PSE.

It should be noted that the natural temptation of assessors to award a middle ranking is avoided bythe use of an even number of rankings. For example, in a 1-5 ranking system, 3 tends to be used as a‘neutral’ rating; thus, four levels of ratings forces assessors to rate the item either more negatively (1-2)or more positively (3-4). Variations on the format of Likert scales can be used to make rating scales easierto understand and/or more specific to the indicator items as in the following examples.

Rating Scale

Indicator Yes No

Teachers avoid using corporal punishment to discipline children.

Rating Scale

Indicator Not at alllike this

school (1)

A littlelike this

school (2)

Quite a lotlike this

school (3)

Very muchlike this

school (4)

Teachers avoid using corporal punishment todiscipline children.

Rating Scale

Indicator True ofonly a fewteachers

(1)

True ofsome

teachers(2)

True ofmost

teachers(3)

True ofall

teachers(4)

Teachers avoid using corporal punishment todiscipline children.


Instructions: Please indicate your feelings about each item by circling the number on each row that comesclosest to your own view:

Another format to show gradations in status of the school against indicators can take the form of descriptions of levels of progress toward standards for CFS, similar to a rubric. The following examples are from Guidelinesfor COMPAS Baseline Survey, Child-Friendly Primary Education, Ministry of Education and Training andUNICEF, Viet Nam.

Indicator: Toilet Facilities

Instructions: mark “X” in front of box that is true for your school

Indicator: Local partnerships in developing school plan

Instructions: mark “X” in front of box that is true for your school

Rating Scale

Indicator Stronglydisagree

(1)

Disagree

(2)

Agree

(3)

Stronglyagree

(4)

Students feel safe in school.

Students feel unsafe in school. 1 2 3 4 Students feel safe in school.

5 Separate facilities used by each sex and regularly kept clean

4 Separate facilities used by each sex but not kept clean

3 Same facilities used by both sexes and regularly kept clean

2 Separate facilities used by both sexes but not kept clean

1 No toilet facilities

5 Parents + five organizations

4 Parents + four organizations

3 Parents + three organizations

2 Parents + two organizations

1 Parents + one organization

–– Women’s Union

–– Education Council

–– People’s Committee

–– Committee for Population,Family and Children

–– Health Service

Mark “X” fororganizationsparticipating

Evaluate/learn/decide

Plan

Implement

Monitor

Reflect/learn/decide/adjust Implement

Monitor

Reflect/learn/decide/adjust

Implement

RUBRICSThe best way to overcome limitations in rating school status using survey tools is to use the mostcomprehensive type of rating scale for assessment: a rubric, which is a scoring guide with a set ofguidelines that define and describe the important criteria of the component being assessed. Because rubricsset forth specific criteria, define precise requirements for meeting those criteria, and assign numericalscores to each level of performance, they provide assessors with an effective, objective method forevaluating items that do not generally lend themselves to objective assessment methods. Rubric indicatorsare designed to describe standards leading to an ideal state, or ‘exemplary level’, on that aspect that isbeing assessed. Rubrics are useful when trying to assess processes or other less tangible aspects of CFS.

CFS assessments designed on rubric models are not common, with only Vanuatu really using thisapproach. Across the top of the rubric chart are listed the various rankings, in lieu of numbers. There isa separate rating for each of the criteria in the rubric, since schools naturally will be stronger in someaspects of their child-friendliness than in others. Each rating represents a progressively higher level of acriterion against a standard set for the indicator. As an assessment tool, rubrics allow for complex critiquesof components, key performance areas, and dimensions of child-friendliness.

Example of Rubric for School Discipline

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Criteria/Level/Score

Beginning(1)

Developing(2)

Accomplished(3)

Exemplary(4)

Code of conduct

The schooldoes not havea code ofconduct abouthow studentsare expectedto behave.

The schoolhas a code ofconduct abouthow studentsare expectedto behave.

The school hasa code of conductabout how studentsare expected tobehave that has beendevelopedwith participationof students andteachers.

The school hasa code of conductabout how studentsare expected tobehave that hasbeen developedwith participationof students, parents,and teachers.

Writtendisciplinerules

The schooldoes not havewritten disciplinerules.

The school haswritten disciplinerules that arepractical.

The school haswritten disciplinerules that arepractical and clearlycommunicated toall students andteachers.

The school haswritten disciplinerules that arepractical and clearlycommunicated tostudents, parents,and teachers.

Physicalpunishment

The schooldoes not have apolicy prohibitingphysical punishmentas an acceptabledisciplinaryprocedure.

The school hasa policy prohibitingphysical punishmentas an acceptabledisciplinaryprocedure.

The school hasand enforces a policyprohibiting physicalpunishment as an acceptable disciplinary procedure.

The school hasand enforces apolicy prohibitingphysical punishmentand has a policypromoting positivediscipline as thepreferred disciplinaryprocedure.

Positivediscipline

The schoolprovides no supportto teachers in the useof non-aggressiveand positive stylesof discipline.

Teachers areencouraged to usenon-aggressiveand positive stylesof discipline.

The schoolprovides trainingto teachers inthe use ofnon-aggressiveand positive stylesof discipline.

The schoolprovides trainingto teachers andparents in the useof non-aggressiveand positive stylesof discipline.

No survey tool – be they checklists or rubrics – can be exhaustive. But the very process of constructing andusing such a tool prompts debate, discussion, and reflection on the key elements of the five CFS dimensions.The creative collaboration in constructing checklists, rubrics, and indicators as a community of learnerscan be one of the most useful aspects of the process, allowing the perspectives and knowledge of variousschool-community partners to be brought into play. Once the assessment tool has been compiled, it shouldbe used to gather the views of a broader range of stakeholders to identify areas where there is convergenceand/or divergence of opinion regarding the child-friendliness of the school.

WHO CAN USE THE ASSESSMENT TOOLS?

There is an inherent risk if individuals working alone implement assessment tools. A great value in usingCFS assessment is when it is used as part of a consultative process. A key aspect of a CFS is that allstakeholders are engaged in the management and progressive improvement of the environment andupkeep of the school.

IDENTIFYING USERS AND PURPOSES

The most common belief is that only ‘experts’ can carry out assessments and use the tools that theyemploy. Without doubt, many assessments – and especially those dealing with evaluation as opposed toplanning – are better carried out by monitoring and evaluation (M&E) specialists, usually found in universities,research institutes, or, sometimes, Ministries of Education. Nonetheless, in assessing a CFS programme,a wide range of people can, and should be, involved, from ‘experts’ to community members and evenchildren. They will be the users of the assessment tools as well as be the ones to benefit from assessmentresults. Some potential users and beneficiaries are:

1. A funding organization (government, international, private, foundation);2. A national agency (ministry, private);3. A local agency (educational service area, provincial or district education office,

community development office, etc.);4. CFS programme Directors (School principals or superintendents, local ministry officials

assigned to pilot CFS, etc.);5. Direct service staff (such as teachers); and6. CFS local stakeholders (students, parents, community leaders).

Which users will use which assessment tools will, once again, depends upon the purpose of theassessment. Usually, the first three users noted above are the ones who will rely most on tools that areoutcome-focused. For funding agencies, they need these assessment tools so that they can assuredonors that their money has been well spent. For national and local agencies, they need such tools togenerate information that can substantiate developing, or continuing, CFS policies, and for planningany ‘scaling up’ activities, such as nationwide expansion. The tools that generate the best informationfor these purposes are those that are more structured, focus on determining outcomes, and generate‘hard data,’ that is, quantitative information (such as numbers or percentages).


The remaining users noted above are usually the ones who are working on a daily basis to improve theirCFS programme. Hopefully, they will see the main purpose of assessment as being a practical one. They should want to know what their CFS activities have achieved, singularly and collectively, whether theirefforts are being effective, and whether resources are being used efficiently to achieve the CFS objectives.Consequently, they will rely more on tools that are process-focused, and these tools should be usedregularly to assess progress. These tools may collect quantitative information to determine achievements.But they will also collect more ‘qualitative’ information, such as through documentary reviews, interviews,observations, or participatory methods, to assess a CFS programme and its activities from a ‘people’sperspective’ (their ideas, thoughts, feelings about the CFS, its benefits, and areas for improvement).Participatory mechanisms, to the extent possible, should be incorporated into assessment activities, be theyfor evaluation or planning/monitoring purposes. They should involve stakeholders (education administrators,teachers) and beneficiaries (students, parents, community leaders) in the collective examination andassessment of CFS. As noted earlier, knowing why a CFS programme or its activities succeed or fail iseven more important than knowing they do. We cannot determine this why through numbers or statistics. Wecan only understand this why by asking those who are actually participating in the CFS programmeand its activities.

EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL USERS

Assessment tools can be used by either persons external to a CFS programme or those working within it.External evaluators are those persons who are believed to be able to take a fresh look at a CFS programmebecause he or she is not involved personally and has nothing personal to gain or lose from assessingthe CFS. Hence, he or she is more likely to be objective and less likely to be biased.

Depending upon who or what organization recruited them for their assignment and its objectives, externalevaluators may be asked to determine outcomes (quantitative information), programme process information(qualitative), or, more commonly, a combination of the two. To get a full picture, external evaluatorsusually should work very closely with CFS programme implementers to review the information revealedby self-improvement tools over time, and then compare this information with specific achievements(or non-achievements).

An ‘internal evaluator’ is one who is directly involved with developing the CFS programme or one whoknows the programme very well, such as a head master or members of a school management committee.They already know how the programme is functioning, its objectives, problems, strengths, andweaknesses. Usually, internal evaluators are the ones who should use monitoring or self-improvementtools more heavily to improve the CFS programme process rather than outcomes. However, because they knowthe programme so well, it is believed that they may find it hard to reliably evaluate the programme;they are too subjective. They may be too biased (or afraid) to use tools to identify specific outcomesand the impact of the CFS programme. Yet, their insights could help explain why certain CFS activitiesworked (had an impact) or did not work.

The following table sets out the major advantages and disadvantages of external and internal assessments.To resolve many of the disadvantages, CFS assessments and their tools are most effective when theyinvolve the participation of both external and internal assessment specialists.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Internal and External Evaluations7


Advantages Disadvantages

InternalEvaluation

Evaluators are very familiar with theCFS programme in the schools beingassessed, the schools‘ organizationalclimate, and the CFS aims andobjectives. These persons can beheadmasters or members of schoolmanagement committees.

Sometimes people are more willingto talk to insiders than to outsiders.

An internal evaluation is veryclearly a management tool, a wayof self-correcting, and much lessthreatening than an externalevaluation. This may make it easierfor those involved to accept findingsand criticisms. Consequently, theassessment tools used focus moreon self-improvement.

An internal evaluation costs less thanan external evaluation.

The evaluator or evaluationteam may have a vested interestin reaching positive conclusions.For this reason, other stakeholders,such as donors, may prefer anexternal evaluation.

The team may not be skilled ortrained in evaluation.

While an internal evaluationmay cost less than an externalone, it may take up a lot of theorganization’s time. Hence,opportunity costs may be high.

ExternalEvaluation

The evaluation is more likely tobe objective, since the evaluatorshave not been a part of the CFSimplementation process.

The evaluators may have a rangeof evaluation skills and experience,and they may be able to determineconcrete outcomes and impactmore reliably.

Sometimes people are more willingto talk to outsiders than to insiders.

Using an outside evaluator givesgreater credibility to findings,especially positive findings.

Someone from outside of theCFS and its community maynot understand the culture or evenwhat the work is trying to achieve.

Those directly involved inimplementing the CFS may feelthreatened by outsiders and beless likely to talk openly and tocooperate in the process.

An external evaluator maymisunderstand what you wantfrom the evaluation and not giveyou what you need.

External evaluation can be very costly.

7 Adapted from: Shapiro, J. Monitoring and Evaluation. CIVICUS. p. 9. [On-line] available from: <http://www.schoolnetafrica.net/fileadmin/resources/Monitoring_and_Evaluation.pdf> [4/1/2005].

WHAT DO WE ASSESS?

In this Guideline, CFS assessment tools in matrix form, as well as their outcome and process indicators, aregiven for each CFS dimension. Within these dimensions, the assessments focus on Key PerformanceAreas (KPAs), which are some of the major areas requiring specific assessment within each CFS dimension.By concentrating on these areas, the assessment process becomes more organized and manageable, andthe results can show more specifically which aspects need to be improved. In addition, within theseKPAs, and once again to make it more manageable, specific components are noted. These components areusually based on the similarity between, or the clustering of, process indicators, such as those referringto policy, as opposed to those that address school management aspects. A summary of the CFS dimensions,KPAs, and components is shown in the table below.

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Dimension KPAs Component

Inclusive Ensure access to all children,regardless of background or ability

- Policy- School-based Management- Teacher Capacity- Community Support

Respect and respond to diversity - School-based Management- Teacher Capacity- Student Learning and Participation- Feedback to Parents

Eliminate stereotypes within thecurriculum, learning materials,and teaching-learning processes

- School and Curriculum- Learning Material Content- Teacher Capacity- Community Involvement- Child Participation

Effective School policy and managementenvironment constructive forlearning

- School Policies- School-based Management- Resources

Good quality, child-centred teachingand learning processes and outcomes

- Curriculum and Educational Materials- School-based Management- Teacher Capacity- Child Involvement- Classroom Learning Environment - Parental Involvement

Enhanced teacher capacity, morale,and motivation

- School-based Management- Teacher Capacity- Resources- Community Support


Dimension KPAs Component

Healthy, Safe,and Protective

School health, safety, andprotection-related policies andprocedures

- Health-related School Policiesand Procedures

A healthy and safe physicalschool environment

- Provision of Clean, Safe,and Sanitary Facilities

- Disease Prevention- Personal Safety

A psychosocially supportiveschool environment

- Providing a Friendly andSupportive Atmosphere

- Managing Behaviour, Discipline,and Violence

- Valuing Creative Activities and Recreational Experiences

Skills-based health education - Life Skills Education

School-based health andnutritional services

- School-based Health and- Nutrition Services

Proactive engagement with schooland community stakeholders andservice providers

- Parental Involvement- School-Community Linkages

GenderSensitive

Quality, gender-friendly learningenvironments

- School Policies and Management- Community Involvement- Facilities and Services- Learning Activities

Gender-friendly curricula andlearning materials

- Curriculum and Resources- Learning Material Content

Gender-friendly teaching andlearning processes

- Teacher Capacity- Role Models- Community Involvement - Child Learning Experiences

Student, Family,and CommunityParticipation

Mechanisms for students to expresstheir views about school work andschool life and to participate instudent organizations

- Students Expressing Their Views- Student Involvement in

Decision-making- Opportunities for Participation in

Student Organizations

Mechanisms for building school-parentpartnerships for school policy-makingand management, student developmentand protection

- Parents are Partners inDecision-making

- Communication Between Schooland Parents

- Involving Parents in SupportingChildren’s Learning, Development, and Protection

Mechanisms for building school-community partnerships forschool management and support, student protection, and communityimprovement

- Building School-CommunityPartnerships

- Mobilizing Community Resources toSupport Learning and Child Protection

Assessment Indicators and Categories Used Among Selected East Asia and Pacific Countries

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Country No. of Indicators Categories

37 - Provision of clean,safe, and sanitary facilities- Disease prevention- Personal safety

66 - Child development- School campus/environment- Staffing- School management- Community relations

60 - School-based management- Active, joyful, and effective learning- Community participation- Outputs/impact- Inputs provided

25 - School policies- Teaching/learning process- School environment- Community involvement- SHAPE-related criteria

54 - Encourage children’s participation- Enhance children’s health and well-being- Guarantee safe and protective spaces- Encourage enrolment and completion- Ensure children’s academic effectiveness- Raise teacher morale and motivation- Mobilize community support

23 - Promote psycho-social well-being, self-esteem, and confidence

- Promote equality, respect, non-discrimination, and inclusiveness

- Provide education based on reality of children’s lives- Education, behaviour, and environment reflecting

good health, nutrition, and hygiene- Healthy children, parents, and teachers establish

harmonious partnerships- Strengthen school management through

community-based approach

Cambodia

China

Indonesia

Myanmar

Philippines

Thailand

Vanuatu 17-53 with five levelsdepending on stage

of school

- Teamwork with students, parents, community- Gender sensitivity- Healthy and protective environment- Effective learning through effective teaching- Child-friendly leadership and administration- Including every child- Child-centred attitude- Child seeking behaviour and policy

Source: Proceedings of the UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Workshop on Child-Friendly Schools, 10-12February 2004, Yangon, Myanmar (CD version).

WHAT ASSESSMENT METHODS CAN BE USED?

For the outcome and process indicators noted in the tools/matrices in the following sections, assessment levels (school, classroom, child, family, community) and suggested assessment methods for collecting important information to assess that indicator are given. These methods may be either quantitative or qualitative in nature. In general, quantitative methods are usually associated with dimension outcome indicators, while qualitative methods are more associated with KPA and component process indicators, though there are exceptions.

The major methods that are suggested include surveys, documentary reviews, observations, and interviews(individual and focus group). Which method is selected depends upon the indicator that is being assessed andthe purpose of the assessment. Following is a brief description of these methods, along with their major advantages and disadvantages.

SURVEYS

Surveys involve asking people (e.g., teachers, students, community members) questions and recording theiranswers, such as “Does this school have a policy on inclusion?” or “Do you (teacher) use continuous assessment methods?” They are asked questions in a written questionnaire (mailed or handed to them) or during an interview. No situation or condition is manipulated; the people simply answer the questions. Surveysusually involve asking many people many different questions within a short time, and the answers to thesequestions are either “yes” or “no” or are chosen from a pre-selected list of answers for each question (similarto ‘multiple choice’ questions and answers). The answers to questions are then tallied and reported quantitatively, in terms of numbers, percentages, tables, or graphs.

Surveys provide a picture of what many people think or report doing. For example, it is possible to undertakea survey to gain a picture of the relationships within a class or school, such as the prevalence of bullying. Thefollowing questionnaire on bullying is in a quick checklist form. Children can be asked to fill in the questionnaire anonymously (no names).8

Occurrence of Bullying


OnceDid not happen More than once

I was pushed, kicked, or hit on purpose.

Other children told liesabout me.

I had things taken fromme.

I was called nasty namesbecause I’m different insome way from the otherchildren.

8 Booklet 4: Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Classrooms. In: Embracing Diversity: Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments. UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, Bangkok, Thailand. 2004.

The main advantage of the survey method is that it will allow you to determine the rate or magnitude of a particular aspect or indicator, for instance, how many teachers use continuous assessment methods, or howmany students in a classroom have been bullied and in what ways. The main disadvantage is that it cannotexplain in-depth why that particular rate or magnitude actually arose or the conditions under which it exists.For instance, surveys cannot generally tell you why certain teachers are not using continuous assessmentmethods or, if they are, whether or not they are using them correctly. Qualitative methods, such as interviewsand observations, are better methods for answering these questions.

DOCUMENTARY REVIEWS

Schools and community organizations record a lot of material, such as minutes of meetings, memos to staff,policies, student records, and reports. In conducting a documentary review, we use these materials to assessthe degree to which an indicator has been achieved; for instance, using school records to assess the degree to which absenteeism or dropout has declined, or whether a specific policy has actually been developed and distributed.

The advantages of documentary reviews include the following.9

• Documents can sometimes be more accurate than personal memory for information on events that occurred some time in the past. People can forget what happened, but a report written at the time may contain a lot of detail that people miss when interviewed.

• Lists of employees or training programmes can be more efficiently obtained through reviewing documents, rather than using the time of busy school administrators or teachers to report verbally on these issues.

• Quoting internal school documents gives credibility to verbal reports obtained during interviews as well as a means to cross-check the validity of verbal reports (for instance, “When the principal said that last year 95% of students passed their examinations, do the school records support this statement?”).

• Some important individuals – such as school administrators – may not be available for interviews, but the documents they write can often be reviewed weeks, months, or years later.

• Documents are easy to work with. Once we have them, we can review them several times, whenever we want, without worrying about scheduling appointments.

The disadvantages of documentary material include the following.

• We are limited to the information inside the documents. We cannot explore the implications of issues.

• Many documentary sources concentrate on activities, not on results, and because there is no interaction between you and the information source, you cannot find out what changed as a result of the activities described.

• Some documents are deliberately designed to present only one side of an issue; that is, they are deliberately misleading.

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9 This section as well as those on observations, interviews, and focus groups derive from: Exploring and Understanding Gender in Education: A Qualitative Research Manual for Education Practitioners and Gender Focal Points. UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, Bangkok, Thailand. 2005.

• Quantitative documentary material, such as test scores and progression rates, can tell us about general trends in education. However, they often cannot tell us why things are happening, how they are happening, and to whom. Such quantitative information can be useful, but it should form the basis for developing questions for further qualitative assessments using documents, observations, or interviews, to confirm how and why things are happening.

OBSERVATIONS

Among the many qualitative methods used for assessment, the observation method is a very strong basicframework that gives crucial credibility to an assessment study. Observations allow us to recognize ‘hidden’problems or a discrepancy between what people say is happening and what is actually happening. Other majoradvantages of observations include the following.

1. By directly observing a classroom or a school, you will be better able to understand the context within which children learn and whether actual progress is being made in terms of achieving specific indicator; for instance, equality in learning by girls and boys.

2. First-hand experience with how a classroom works allows you to be inductive in your approach, that is, you can use what you learn from your observations to identify common patterns. For instance, a teacher may not realize that she usually asks boys questions about mathematics. From your observations, though, you can see this actually happening, and you can tell her how many times she calls on boys and not girls.

3. You have the opportunity to see things that may routinely escape the conscious awareness among teachers and school administrators, but these may be significant in whether or not an indicator is truly being achieved.

4. You can learn important information about aspects that teachers or school administratorsmay be unwilling to talk about in an interview (such as the use of corporal punishment). You can thus gain information that otherwise would not be available.

5. Observations permit you to move beyond the selective (biased) perceptions of others. For instance, teachers may say they are not gender-biased in their teaching, but observations of their classrooms may tell a different story.

6. You can take in information and form impressions that go beyond what can be fully recorded in even the most detailed interview notes. This reflection and introspection aid in understanding and interpreting what you are assessing.

One major disadvantage of the observation method is that when people (such as a teacher) know that they arebeing observed, they may try to act the way that they want you to see them, rather than behaving normally. Inother words, they try to act ‘like they are supposed to act’ rather than how they normally act. One of the waysto deal with this issue is to try and observe persons (or classrooms) as many times as possible, rather than onlyone time. By observing many times, those who you are observing are constrained to act as they normallywould. They may also become more relaxed in having you in the classroom. You can also ask others whetheryour observations in a classroom, or other setting, appear to be ‘usual’ or ‘normal’ ones that they also see.


INTERVIEWS

INTENSIVE, INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWSWe can get useful information from documents or surveys, but this is second-hand information, at best. It maynot tell us why people do the things they do. Interviews can clarify issues that are only suggested by documents, surveys, or testing. Moreover, interviews are also more important than observations. Watchingwhat someone does is necessary to give you a complete picture of what is occurring. This is important becausefrequently what someone says they think or do is not actually what happens. In addition, people do not alwaysknow what they do because many of their behaviours are autonomic or subconscious. For example, teachersmay not be aware that they change their tone of voice or style of questions when talking to a boy versus a girl.

However, only through talking to the participants themselves is it possible to understand from their perspective:

• their motivations (the why) for what they are doing;

• their processes (the how) of what they are doing; and

• their assessment of the value, risks, or potential benefits of the situation or innovation (under what circumstances).

No matter what you think should be the reason someone does, or fails to do, something, and under what circumstances, in the end it is the individual – the teacher, principal, or others – who decides what to do, howto do it, and when to do it. Any intervention to influence that decision and facilitate improvements in a CFSdimension or KPA, therefore, needs to take into account the participant’s perspective. This is when interviewing is the appropriate assessment method.

The advantages of intensive interviewing as an assessment method include the following.

• It helps us to find out how and why events occur, information we often cannot get from other sources. It allows us to explore the context for behaviour.

• It is flexible. Where some questions cannot be anticipated, intensive interviewing allows us to add questions, or vary them, during the interview and to follow-up on new information.

“Intensive interviewing is an exploratory tool that can get at the nitty-gritty of programme operations, revealing what actually happened, why, and with what impact. It is not the only[assessment] tool…. But intensive interviewing is ideally suited to gathering data about crucialsteps in programme implementation.”10

The disadvantages of intensive interviewing include the following issues.

• Interviews that produce good quality information are probably the most difficult of the qualitative methods to use. These interviews require a great deal from you as the central information collector and processor. You need to communicate well, understand your informants, be sensitive to them and their surroundings, know when to allow for silence, when to probe for more information, and when to change the interview’s direction. You also need to be tolerant of ambiguity. There are no set procedures or protocols that can be followed step by step.11

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10 Murphy JT. Getting the Facts: A Fieldwork Guide for Evaluators and Policy Analysts. Goodyear Publishing: Santa Monica, California. 1980, p. 77-78.11 Miske S. Qualitative Research Training Manual. Developed under the auspices of “A Multi-site Case Study on the Implementation of the Language Policy

in Six Schools in Ghana” supported through Improving Educational Quality Project II, in partnership with CRIQPEG, University of Cape Coast, University College of Education/Winneba, Institute of African Studies and University of Ghana/Legon. 1999, pp. 5-6.

• Intensive semi-structured or unstructured interviews may be more subjective than structured interviews, because your questions will vary in wording, sequence, and context.

• It takes a lot of time. The whole point of intensive interviewing is to allow us to search for details in responses, and to follow up on new information by asking more questions. All of this can sometimes take more time than would a structured interview or a questionnaire.

• Interview research can be either the main source of assessment information, or it can be part of a strategy that also includes observation and documentary analysis. But to get accurate information during an interview, you have to think carefully about:

1. who will be interviewed;2. how they will be interviewed; 3. how the information will be recorded; and4. the types of questions to be asked.

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONSIn addition to interviewing individual persons, focus group discussion (FGD) sessions are another popular wayto collect qualitative assessment information. An FGD session is an interview where a small group (about 7 to10) of informants, such as teachers or students, are guided by a moderator to talk freely and spontaneously on an issue considered important to the assessment. A sample interview guide can be found atthe end of this section. The session is held in an atmosphere that is considered natural (and relaxed) for theinterviewees, who are chosen from a larger target group that share similar ideas, opinions, and attitudes.

The advantages of FGDs are that they can give you important insights into what a group of people jointlybelieves and why. Like other qualitative methods, focus groups can be used to focus the assessment and formulate questions for structured quantitative interview questionnaires, or for individual qualitative interviewguidelines. In addition, FGDs are valuable as a technique for checking information with a large number of people, especially if it pertains to reactions towards an activity (or even a CFS programme as a whole). Usuallymore than one group session is held, using different members, to assure adequate coverage. Alternatively, theycan be refined by selecting out specific sub-groups within a population for comparative analysis; for instance,asking a group of teachers about corporal punishment and then asking a group of students.

The main disadvantages of FGDs are that a single focus group session usually cannot be readily generalized asreflecting the larger population as a whole; it can only indicate a range concerning group knowledge, attitudes,and the like. Further, focus group sessions, by their very nature, are not useful in obtaining information considered private or sensitive, or behaviours that might be looked down upon by others. People aregenerally very reticent about sharing their personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a group setting.


Interview Guide on Exploring Gender and the Child-Friendliness of Schools and Communities12

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Opinions of CFS

What does everyone here know about child-friendly schools (CFS)? (If no one knows about CFS, give a short orientation on its major components.)

What good things do you think CFS could achieve in your community, and why?

What bad things might happen, and why?

Do you think a CFS can help to develop your children and the community? How?

School Enrolment Practices and Obstacles (focusing especially on girls)

Would community leaders and parents be equally supportive of boys and girls attending thistype of school or the local school (if the community does not have a CFS)? Why or why not?

Why do you think some parents in this community might not enrol (or are not enrolling) theirchildren, especially girls, in this school or the local school?

What community conditions might prevent a girl or boy from coming to school? (For instance,do community leaders and parents value girls’ education? Do they value female and maleteachers equally?)

What school-based factors might prevent a girl or boy from attending this school? (For instance, is the school close enough for all school-age boys and girls to walk safely to it?Do teachers encourage girls and boys to speak and contribute equally?)

Programme Intervention Support and Ideas

If we wanted to get all children in school, especially girls, what do you think a programme ormessage should say so that parents would enrol them in school, and who should give thisinformation?

In this community, what medium do you think would be best to convey this information? Why?

Do you have any other ideas for developing and implementing such programmes and makingthem successful?

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12 Exploring and Understanding Gender in Education: A Qualitative Research Manual for Education Practitioners and Gender Focal Points. UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, Bangkok, Thailand. 2005.

FLEXIBILITY AND RESPONSIVENESS IN ASSESSMENT AND ASSESSMENTTOOLS

Assessment plays a critical role in creating a CFS. It asks the question of whether policies and programmes areimproving children’s rights-based learning, and it uses agreed upon outcome and process indicators to determine the answers. It is the means by which all members of the school and community can progressivelydetermine how closely they are realizing their vision of what child-friendliness means, and refining that visionas they go along.

Assessing child-friendliness, as a form of organizational learning, means that all dimensions and each actionof the school need to be reviewed by education administrators, programme managers, teachers, parents, students, and community members. It must be remembered, however, that each school has its own organizational learning style that reflects the organizational culture in its unique context. Consequently, thechoice of assessment processes, methods, tools, and indicators needs flexibility built-in so that they can respond to the local conditions under which the school operates and learns how to become more child-friendly.

The assessment methods, tools, and indicators provided in this document are examples only. They offer toolsthat can assist schools and communities to engage in a process of active reflection, assessment, and planningfor improvement, based on the CRC and the five dimensions of CFS. It is intended that each country, school district, individual school, and community will select, modify, and develop tools that are highly specific to itslocal circumstances. There may be items included in some of the examples which would not be acceptable to some countries or schools, or which would be inconsistent with their religious or cultural ethos.Schools are not expected to try to address all of the sample indicators contained herein in a single assessment. However, as schools become progressively more child-friendly, they should consider using additional indicators to more comprehensively address the wide range of issues in encompassed by the fivedimensions of CFS.

ASSESSING THE CHILD-FRIENDLINESS OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS

This assessment guide is to be used at the primary school level, largely because this is the level at which theCFS initiative began and is the most fully developed. Nonetheless, and although CFS was originally designedfor primary schools, several countries have already started applying the CFS framework in their secondaryschools, most notably, China, the Philippines and Thailand. One of the reasons for this is that a tremendousopportunity at the secondary level exists in the students themselves. They can provide increasingly more participatory and self-directed contributions to planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating ‘Child-friendliness.’ Moreover, there is a concern that focusing CFS at the primary level may make it more difficult for students when they make the transition to non-CFS secondary schools, with their greater relianceon rote and teacher-centred learning in potentially unhealthy and unsafe learning environments.

The five dimensions of CFS and their assessment tools do not need to be fundamentally revised for secondaryschools, although re-emphasis or identification of unique issues under each dimension may vary, and theseshould serve as important assessment areas. For instance, an ongoing debate is whether to split the Health,Safety and Protection Dimension into two separate branches (health and protection) for the secondary level.The major reason for this is that with the onset of puberty, the physiological, psychosocial, and interpersonalissues and changes facing adolescent boys and girls in secondary schools are fundamentally different than inprimary schools. Moreover, as they mature, secondary students are expected to assume traditional roles thatmay not be in line with their own expectations, nor supported by media or by social factors in schools. As aresult, critical issues surrounding sexual and reproductive health, addictive substance abuse, and the like needto be addressed, and assessed, more directly than for children in CFS primary schools.


There are other unique challenges facing CFS in secondary as compared to primary education, and these challenges should serve as important areas for assessment in countries that are moving CFS into secondaryschools. High among these are the need to ensure equity in enrolment between various groups, as well as making special efforts for targeted inclusion at the secondary level. These efforts, which could serve as important process indicators, could include, for instance, a combination of incentives, special policies, advocacy efforts, and improved facilities to get a critical mass of special groups (e.g., certain ethnic minorities,children with disabilities, children living in remote locations) successfully into and through secondary school.Moreover, the larger catchment areas of secondary schools means that there will be differences in Parent-Teacher and School-Community relations, and steps need to be taken and assessed to see that parent-teacher-community relations remain strong.

Gender activities for secondary schools are traditionally provided – and assessed – in terms of incentives andsupport for increased enrolment and completion of girls. Special attention is given to assessing ‘pull’ factors(costs and lost income) and ‘push’ factors (overcrowded classes of low quality) that can affect some groups andlead to the total exclusion of girls or boys from secondary school. Many efforts have already been explored topromote girls’ and boys’ success in access to secondary school and these can serve as process indicators.Some of the most common are including expanded boarding facilities, improved toilet/water facilities, accessto counselling, after-school clubs and skills training, as well as incentives such as meals or food stuffs, feewaivers on tuition or entrance exams, free uniforms, textbooks and/or stationery, and allowances or scholarships. An assessment of potential secondary education incentives for girls and boys from a CFS perspective, therefore, would also be a useful reference as more countries in the region expand quality inputsinto the lower and higher secondary level. Gender, however, must also be assessed in the light of what happens inside the secondary school and classroom and how home and community support girls and boys differently in relation to school homework and chores.

Finally, the participation dimension in secondary education has tremendous potential with students. Forinstance, it can link with extensive student group networks in developing CFS indicators and monitoringprogress, in developing school plans and budgets, and in improving quality through inputs as resource persons and sources of local knowledge. China has been supporting student CFS assessments of teachers andschools and is piloting both the use of the Internet and interconnectivity between CFS secondary schools andtheir student bodies on CFS themes and sharing their processes and results with others. The processes inwhich secondary school student groups engage in assessments or systematic monitoring of CFS need to be documented and shared. Similarly, efforts by secondary school students to prepare and implement schooldevelopment plans need to be documented, assessed, and exchanged.

ASSESSING THE EDUCATION ‘SYSTEM’ IN SUPPORT OF CFS

The nature and nurturing of CFS initiatives lies at two levels. At the local level, it rests on the vision, capacities, and dedication of the true frontline actors: education administrators, teachers, community leaders,parents, and students. Without the commitment and dedication of any of these actors, assessments of a CFSinitiative will show little improvement.

But CFS do not exist in isolation, and one of the major goals is for CFS to ‘go to scale.’ Going to scaleinvolves at least three processes: expansion (increasing the number of schools or the geographic reach of theproject), consolidation (ensuring that the learning of new teaching, management, and/or relationships is welland deeply enough established to be sustained with quality), and institutionalization (converting piloted activities aimed at introducing the innovation into specific and permanent institution-development activities, such as demonstration class teacher-training approaches that are converted into the creation ofteacher-training programmes).13

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13 A Review of Child-Friendly School Initiatives in the East Asia and Pacific Region. UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, Bangkok. 2004.

To date, all of the CFS projects in the East Asia and Pacific region are expanding numerically in some way,cumulatively adding more schools to the initial set or sequentially moving from one set to the next after a givenperiod of time. Several projects are realizing the challenges in this expansion process and are supporting committed CFS stakeholders in sharing their knowledge and skills with others, as well as communicating goodpractice examples horizontally across each level of the system, especially across the community.

If CFS are to grow, consolidate, and become a major prime mover for change, they must build on existing systems, take advantage of opportunity windows, and collaborate with the like-minded across sectors and at all levels. Unfortunately, however, there are fewer indications of progress being made in terms of institutionalizing the core changes of the CFS initiative, such as with projects making an explicit change in paradigm from a pilot design to one aimed at mainstreaming. Why? As noted above, CFS do not exist in isolation but are a part of a broader education ‘system’ that may allow them to grow. But because CFS areinherently different than ‘mainstream schools,’ they may receive less attention, and less support, than mainstream schools. Assessing the progress of CFS, therefore, not only involves measuring outcomes and theprocesses by which they arise within individual CFS themselves. It also rests on assessing the education system within which CFS, its principles, and even ‘mainstream schools’ are allowed (or not allowed) to grow,consolidate, and become institutionalized. Some of the key assessment areas for the education system thatmay affect CFS performance, and for which context-specific outcome and process indicators should be developed, include the following.

• Adequacy of national education legislation and policies to align with the CFS principle of a quality, affordable, and compulsory child rights-based education for all children;

• Existence and adequacy of regulations and guidelines for implementing and assessing CFS, their use, and enforcement;

• Adequacy of physical resources (e.g., schools; basic school supplies; safe and affordable transportation mechanisms for teachers and students; water supply and sanitation facilities) and mechanisms for their procurement (e.g., nationally and/or through community support);

• Adequacy of decentralized, equitable financial resources for school operations and transparency in their allocation;

• Quality and performance of human resources (e.g., supply and recruitment of qualified teachers, teacher trainers/educators, head teachers and administrators, education officials, with a gender balance; incentive mechanisms; opportunities for pre- and in-service training in new teaching-learning methods; supervision/mentoring mechanisms for teachers);

• Existence of quality, child-friendly, and gender-sensitive curriculum and learning materials that are regularly reviewed/revised, and preferably incorporating child-centred learning and life skills education;

• Promotion of transparency and good governance in education administration (e.g., adequate salaries and their prompt allocation; review of teacher transfer processes; transparency in promotions; promotion of inter-school networks; promotion of linkages with other sectors, such as health and social services; establishment of an effective, gender-sensitive monitoring and evaluation system);

• Promotion of decentralized, school-based management at national and local levels with adequate and functioning supervisory and technical assistance mechanisms.


DIMENSION 1ASSESSING THE INCLUSIVENESS OF CFS

INCLUSION AND CFS

Education is a right for ALL children. Article 28 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of theChild (CRC) ensures each child’s right to a free and compulsory basic education and to the protection oftheir dignity in all disciplinary matters. In addition, Article 29 charges States Parties to ensure the fullestpossible development of each child’s ability and to the development of their respect for human rights andfundamental freedoms; for parents, cultural identity, and values; and for the environment.

A CFS is inclusive of children when it seeks out children who are not attending school and does notexclude, discriminate, or stereotype on the basis of difference. It welcomes, nurtures, and educates allchildren regardless of their sex, physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic, or other characteristics.It provides these children with an education that is free, compulsory, and accessible, especially to familiesand children at risk. It respects and responds to diversity and ensures equal opportunity for all. It treatsdiversity as an opportunity for, rather than an obstacle to, quality education.

Inclusion is really about how well CFS are doing at making practical changes so that all children, regardlessof their background or ability, can succeed. These changes will not merely benefit the children that areoften singled out as children with special needs, but all children and their parents, all teachers and schooladministrators, and everyone in the community who works with the school.

AIM OF THE ASSESSMENT

The aim of a CFS assessment on inclusion is to ensure full enrolment, participation, and completion of allchildren within that school’s catchment area and to eliminate stereotypes that promote discriminationand exclusion. This means that all children, regardless of their background or ability, have equal opportunitiesto enter school, participate in learning within the classroom and outside of it, as well as benefit from therange of learning experiences a CFS has to offer. All children are equally equipped with the attitudes andskills that will help them to achieve their fullest potential within and outside of the educational system.

KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS AND OUTCOME INDICATORS

Measuring the inclusiveness of a CFS entails investigating three major Key Performance Areas (KPAs),namely:

1. Mechanisms for ensuring access to all children regardless of background or ability;2. Mechanisms for respecting and responding to diversity that ensure equal opportunity in

learning and learning achievement for all children regardless of background or ability; and3. Mechanisms for eliminating stereotypes within the curriculum, learning materials, and

teaching-learning processes.


Together, and like gender responsiveness, these three areas affect the attainment of three major cross-cuttingoutcome indicators of inclusion within CFS, namely:

1. Equal access to and enrolment in school of all children, without regard to background or ability;

2. Equality in the learning process by all children, without regard to background or ability; and

3. Equality in learning achievement levels for all children, without regard to background or ability.

The means for assessing these outcomes are given in the Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 Inclusion Dimension Outcome Indicators and Their Assessment for CFS

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DimensionOutcomeIndicators

AssessmentLevel(s)

AssessmentMethod(s)

Frequencyof Collectionor Reporting

1. Equal accessto and enrolmentin school ofall children,without regardto backgroundor ability (Allchildren in school;Universal PrimaryEducation)

Community School

Interviews with community leaders and schooladministrators

Documentary reviews of village census recordsand, if available, student tracking systems/schoolmonitoring mechanisms

Community mapping with children

Baseline; Yearly(prior to start ofnew school year)

2. Equality in thelearning processby all children,without regardto backgroundor ability (allchildren equallyparticipating inand benefitingfrom learningand the teaching-learning process)

SchoolClassroomChild

Classroom observations of teaching methods,teacher-child interactions, and level of childparticipation

Interviews or surveys with children, teachers,and school administrators

Documentary reviews of lesson plans, textbooks,and other learning materials (assess degreeof bias due to background or ability)

Baseline; Eachschool term and,ideally, on anongoing basis

3. Equality inlearning achievement levels for allchildren, withoutregard to background orability (all childrenachieving to theirfullest ability)

ClassroomSchool

Documentary review of continuingassessment records (e.g., portfolios, journals,anecdotal records, screening tests) andexamination records

Documentary review of school records onabsenteeism, dropout, and transition rates

Baseline; Each school termand, ideally, onan ongoing basis

As with the other dimensions, attaining the above outcomes is not an overnight event, and the speed at which progress is made will vary depending upon each school’s situation, level of development, and limitations(human, material, and financial). Timing and progress towards achieving these outcomes as well as thedevelopment of each KPA below needs to progress at a rate suitable to each school or school cluster andbe undertaken in a step-by-step, phased manner (see, for example, the sample rubrics for Vanuatu inAppendix A). Because each country and school situation is different, it would be misleading to prescribea set pattern or timetable. Persons responsible for assessing this dimension will need to identify what is appropriate considering the CFS situation in which they find themselves.

KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS AND PROCESS INDICATORS

KPA 1. ENSURING ACCESS TO SCHOOL BY ALL CHILDREN REGARDLESS OF BACKGROUND OR ABILITY

In many countries of the region, ‘inclusive education’ has come to mean ‘including children with disabilities’ or‘special learning needs’ in ‘regular’ classrooms for children without disabilities or special learningneeds. Actually, inclusive education in a CFS sense means much more. ‘Inclusive’ does include childrenwith disabilities, such as children who have difficulties in seeing or hearing, who cannot walk, or who areslower to learn. However, ‘inclusive’ also means including all children who are, or can potentially be,excluded from school and from learning in the classroom due to a child’s personal characteristics, thoseof her/his family environment, as well as the social and physical environment of our communities andschools. Below are some of the major barriers to inclusion that may affect whether a child attends schooland is able to participate in learning. It is important to note, moreover, that these barriers are not mutuallyexclusive; a child’s ability to attend school and participate in the classroom can be blocked by two or morebarriers working together.14

• Homelessness;• Need to work;• Illness or hunger; • Lack of birth registration;• Fear or violence in coming to, going home from, or being in school;• Disabilities and special needs;• Traditional gender roles that restrict access to and retention in school;• Pregnancy;• Poverty and an inability to pay school costs; • Families that do not value education;• Conflict situations or natural disasters leading to displacement;• Parental migration and inadequate caregiving; • HIV/AIDS;• Differences from the community at large in terms of language, religion, caste, or

other cultural features;• Distance to school and lack of safe transportation; • Lack of preparation on the part of schools and teachers to provide for the learning

needs of traditionally excluded children;• Large class sizes, limited resources, and heavy teacher workload.


14 Booklet 3: Getting All Children In School and Learning. In: Embracing Diversity: Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments. UNESCOAsia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, Bangkok, Thailand. 2004.

A child-friendly school’s success in getting all children in school thus goes beyond simply identifying andincluding children with disabilities or special learning needs. It must be measured against the full enrolmentand completion of all children, including those affected by the barriers noted above.

Moreover, it is not enough for all children to be enrolled in school. Some children still may be excludedfrom participating and learning in the classroom. In other words, just because a child is in a classroom doesnot mean that she or he is included in the classroom. For instance, they may be children:

• for whom a lesson or textbook is not written, or taught, in their first language; • who are never asked to contribute; • who never offer to contribute; • who cannot see the blackboard or a textbook or cannot hear the teacher; or• who are not learning well and for whom no attempt is made to help them.

These children may be sitting at the back of the classroom and may soon dropout altogether. To be inclusive,CFS are responsible for creating a learning environment where ALL children can learn, ALL children wantto learn, and ALL children feel included in our classrooms and schools.15

The extent to which a CFS is inclusive outside of and within the classroom can be explored using thefollowing components and process indicators. This list is not prescriptive and should be added to or adjustedto fit the school’s situation. For each indicator, recommended levels at which it should be assessed are alsogiven, namely, school (e.g., school administrators, school management committees), classroom (teacher),child, family, or community. Moreover, some indicators may have more than one assessment level in orderto ensure that the indicator has actually been achieved. In addition, a selection of suitable methods forcollecting the information for each indicator is also noted, and these can be expanded upon.

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15 Booklet 1: Becoming an Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environment (ILFE). In: Embracing Diversity: Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments. UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, Bangkok, Thailand. 2004.

Table 1.2 Components and Process Indicators for Ensuring Access to School (CFS) by All ChildrenRegardless of Background or Ability


Process Indicators AssessmentLevel(s)

Assessment Method(s)

Component 1: Policy

1. The school has a missionand/or vision statement and policies exist about inclusive,child-friendly education, including a policy against discrimination.

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of written school missionand/or vision statement and policies

Interviews with school administrators, teachers,community leaders, and school managementcommittee members

Component 2: School-based Management

2. The school has a master list of all school-age children in thecommunity, whether enrolled or not.

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of master listInterviews with school administrators, community leaders, and school managementcommittee members

3. The school conducts regularcampaigns to encourage parentsto enrol their children, ones that emphasize that all childrenshould be enrolled and arewelcome regardless of theirbackground or ability.

SchoolCommunityChild

Documentary reviews of campaign plans,records, and supporting documents

Interviews with community leaders, schooladministrators, parents, and children

4. All children have equal accessto an affordable education.

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of school policiesInterviews with school administrators, community leaders, and school managementcommittee members

5. The school and its facilities are physically accessible to allchildren.

School Observations

Interviews with school administrators, teachers,parents, and children

6. Monitoring mechanisms existto identify and enrol school-agegirls and boys in school, to tracktheir attendance and learningperformance, and to undertakeappropriate home visits whennecessary to improve attendance.

SchoolCommunityFamily

Documentary review of monitoring plans, enrolment drive reports, attendance records,home visits records, performance records, etc.

Interviews school administrators, teachers, children, parents, and community leaders

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7. The school has copies of documents or resources atnational or regional levels thataddress inclusive education for children with diversebackgrounds and abilities, andthese materials are used foradvocacy and the developmentof teaching and learning plans.

SchoolCommunityClassroom

Review of school records, document holdings,and lesson plans

Interviews with school administrators and community leaders in terms of advocacyInterviews with teachers on the development ofteaching and learning plans

8. The school knows which professional organizations, para-professionals, advocacygroups, and community organizations offer resources for inclusive education that willbenefit children with diversebackgrounds and abilities.

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of school records in terms of organizational promotional/informationmaterials, as well as records of children whohave received needed resources

Interviews with professional organizations,advocacy groups, and community organizations

9. The school is aware of and,whenever possible, is changingpolicies and practices – such ascosts, daily schedules, and theschool calendar – that preventchildren with diverse backgroundsand abilities from receiving aquality education.


Documentary review of revised school policiesand practices

Interviews with community leaders, parents,school administrators, and teachers

10. The school has links with thecommunity, is responsive to theneeds of the community, and provides opportunities forexchanging ideas with thecommunity to increase all children’s access to schoolregardless of their background or ability

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of school-community meeting schedules and minutes, as well as those of school management committees

Interviews with community leaders, schooladministrators, teachers, and school management committees

11. The school has effective support, supervision, and monitoring mechanisms in whicheveryone participates in learningabout and documenting changesin inclusive practices, as well asin making future decisions.

SchoolClassroomFamilyCommunity

Documentary reviews of school planning and management records, as well as schoolinformation sources (e.g., notice boards, newsletters, Web sites)

Interviews with community leaders, parents,school administrators, teachers, and students

12. The school does not publiclyrank children by performanceresults.

SchoolChildFamily

Documentary review of school policiesObservations of information or notice boards Interviews with school administrators, teachers,parents, and students




13. The school has measures forassisting children with specialneeds, particularly in terms oftheir protection and providingfor their learning (e.g., Braillematerials, signers for the deaf,multilingual resources)


Documentary review of school policies andlearning materials

Interviews with school administrators, teachers,students, and parentsClassroom and school observations

14. Convenient, affordable, and safe mode of transport isavailable from home to schoolfor all children and for all yeararound.


Documentary review of school transportationrecords

Interviews with community leaders, school officials, and students

Observations of modes of transportation, theiroperations, and safety features

Component 3: Teacher Capacity

15. Teachers visit ‘modelschools’ and/or attend workshops or classes on developing an inclusive classroom and school, thusreceiving advanced professionaltraining on a regular basis.

School Documentary review of schedules and materials from school visits, workshops,revised lesson plans, etc.

Interviews with teachers and school administrators

16. Teachers can give presentations to other teachers, parents, and community members on developing an inclusive classroom and the value of diversity in the classroom.


Interviews with teachers, community leaders,school officials, and parents

Observations of meetings, and review of theirminutes

Component 4: Community Support

17. Parents and communitygroups know about inclusive education and offer ideas andresources for assisting the schoolto become more inclusive.

CommunityFamily

Interviews with community leaders, school officials, and parents

Observations of resources provided

KPA 2. RESPECTING AND RESPONDING TO DIVERSITY

A CFS is inclusive when it respects, and welcomes, diversity and ensures equality of opportunity for all children, regardless of background or ability. But it must also go beyond this respect to respond to diversityby meeting the differing circumstances and needs of children. This response entails promoting an inclusive‘social climate’ in that a common understanding exists amongst all school personnel – and by extension thecommunity – about what is inclusion and the value of inclusive education for each child, family, and community. In the process, a school needs to identify, monitor, and address barriers to inclusion, many ofwhich may not have been initially realized. It also needs to promote diversity amongst its staff (e.g., teacherswith different backgrounds and abilities), which will foster a climate of understanding and positive action indealing with the diversity of children in a school or classroom. And lastly, a CFS must respond to the basicphysical, social, and learning needs of children with diverse backgrounds and abilities, the benefits of whichwill not only be felt by these children, but all children. The extent to which a CFS respects and responds to theneeds of all children can be investigated using the following components and process indicators.

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18. The community helps theschool reach out to all childrenwho have been excluded fromschool.

Community Interviews with community leaders, school officials, and parents

Documentary review of minutes from community and school-community meetings,as well as documents supporting communityeducation campaigns

19. The community participatesin school planning and policy-making, and includes the viewsof children in the decision-making process

Community Interviews with community leaders, school officials, and parents

Documentary review of minutes from community and school-community meetings,as well as documents describing the planningand policy-making process

Table 1.3 Components and Process Indicators for Respecting and Responding to Diversity withinCFS




Component 1. School-based Management

1. The school shows in specificways that school administratorsand teachers understand thenature and importance of inclusive education (such waysinclude mechanisms for guaranteeing access to schoolby all children regardless of theirbackground or ability).

SchoolCommunity

Interviews with school administrators, teachers,community leaders, and school managementcommittee members

Classroom and school observations

Documentary review of school promotionalmaterials, school meeting records, studentenrolment and performance records, andreports of school-community or school management committee meetings

2. The school has a list of barriers that can prevent itfrom being fully inclusive, and it has active mechanisms for monitoring and overcomingthese barriers.

School Documentary review of school records andmeeting reports

Interviews with school administrators and teachers

3. The school has (or has a planto develop) a diverse school staff(women and men with differentbackgrounds in race, ethnicity,physical ability, religion, language, socio-economic status, etc.).

School Documentary review of school plans or charters,as well as staff records

Observations of teachers and classrooms


4. The school shows respect for children of all religions;children have opportunities to learn about different religioustraditions, as appropriate, during the school day.


Classroom and school observations

Interviews with school administrators, teachers,students, and community leaders

Documentary review of lesson plans and schoolactivity schedules

5. The school has staff, such as counsellors and bilingualteachers, who can identify andhelp with the students’ speciallearning needs.

School Documentary review of staff and student records

Classroom and school observations on teacher-student interactions

Interviews with staff members

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6. The school has processes and procedures in place thathelp all teachers and teachingstaff, parents, and children towork together to identify andassist with students’ speciallearning needs.

SchoolClassroomChildFamily

Documentary review of school records, writtenprocedures and policies, lesson plans

Interviews with school administrators, teachers,parents, and students

Classroom and school observations on teacher-student interactions

7. The school, with the supportof students and communitymembers, has a plan to supportthe participation of children withdisabilities.


Documentary review of school records, written procedures and policies, and plans

Interviews with school administrators, teachers,parents, and students, including those with disabilities

8. The school has links withexisting health authorities who provide periodic healthexaminations for childrenregardless of background or ability.

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of school health servicerecords

Interviews with local health workers and schoolofficials

9. The school has facilities that meet the needs of all students, such as separate toilets for girls and ramps (not stairs) for physically disabled students.

SchoolChild

Observations of school grounds, facilities, andtheir use

Interviews with students

10. The school has a steady supply of clean, safe drinkingwater and serves or sells healthy,nutritious, and high-quality foodto all children regardless of thebackground or ability.

SchoolChild

Observations of water supplies, food services,and school grounds

Interviews with teachers and students

Documentary review of student health records


11. Teachers can explain the fullmeaning of ‘inclusive education’(beyond simply children with disabilities or special learningneeds) and can give examples ofhow it can be fulfilled within theschool and classroom.

SchoolCommunity

Interviews with school officials and teachers

Review of minutes and observations of meetings (school-community, school management committee meetings, PTA, etc.)




12. Teachers, with the assistance of students, areinvolved in finding school-agechildren who are not in schooland in developing individualizedlearning programmes to fit theirneeds.

SchoolCommunity

Interviews with school administrators, teachers, and community leaders

Documentary review of home visit records andrecords of community education drives or campaigns

13. Teachers know about diseases that cause physical,emotional, and learning disabilities and can helpunhealthy students to get proper care.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of training materials,school reference materials, etc.

Interviews with teachers

14. Teachers have high expectations for all children,regardless of their backgroundor ability, and encourage them tocomplete school.

ClassroomChild

Classroom observations of teacher-studentinteractions


15. Teachers are aware ofresources that are available toassist children with special learning needs.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of school and classroomresource holdings and records of their use


Component 3: Student Learning and Participation

16. ALL students have textbooksand learning materials that match their learning needs.

ClassroomChild

Documentary review of material distributionlists

Classroom observations


17. ALL students are able to learn in their mother tonguewhile they master the nationallanguage.

ClassroomChild




18. ALL students receive regular assessment informationto help them monitor theirprogress.

ClassroomChild

Documentary review of continuous assessmentrecords


Classroom observations of teacher-student relationships

KPA 3. ELIMINATING STEREOTYPES WITHIN THE CURRICULUM, LEARNING MATERIALS, ANDTEACHING-LEARNING PROCESSES

A stereotype is an image or idea of a particular type of person that has become fixed because it has been widely held for a long time. Stereotypes may be positive, such as “people who wear glasses are intelligent,”or stereotypes may be negative, such as “street children are thieves.” A CFS is inclusive when it does not promote or adhere to discriminatory stereotypes that place one individual in a subordinate position to others, that promote exclusion from school and learning in the classroom, or that require conformity to rigidsocial norms.

Prejudice and discrimination can be reflected unintentionally in the curriculum, learning materials, and teaching practices. This is the case especially for girls, children affected by HIV/AIDS, as well as other childrenwith diverse backgrounds and abilities. For instance, children living on the streets may be portrayed in schoolbooks or story books as pickpockets, and working children may be depicted as poor even though they may havemany strengths, such as excellent survival skills. Likewise, children affected by Down Syndrome may be considered ‘slow’ even though many times they have excellent social skills. If CFS curriculum and learningmaterials are inclusive of children with different backgrounds and abilities, they will be more sensitive to thediversity of children and their circumstances. They also will be more relevant to children’s learning. In particular, learning materials are inclusive when they:

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19. ALL children have equalopportunities to participate in allschool and classroom activities.


Documentary review of school and classroomactivity plans as well as specific lesson plans


Classroom observations of teaching methods, teacher-child interactions, and child participation

20. ALL students help to develop guidelines and rules in the classroom and in theschool regarding inclusion, non-discrimination, violence,and abuse.


Documentary review of process documents, as well as written rules and guidelines againstexclusion, discrimination, violence, and abuse

Interviews with school administrators, teachers,and students

Component 4: Feedback to Parents

21. Parents receive informationfrom the school about their children’s attendance, participation, and achievement.

SchoolFamilyChild

Documentary review of information distribution schedules as well as lists of and/or actual documents distributed

Existence and functioning of PTAs

Interviews with parents and students

• include ALL children, even those with diverse backgrounds and abilities;• are relevant to all children’s learning needs and abilities; • are appropriate to all cultures;• value social diversity (for example, socio-economic diversity; poor families can be very

good families for children; they may come up with creative solutions for problems, andthey could be depicted as inventive);

• are useful for the children’s future lives; • include men and women in a variety of roles; and • use appropriate language that includes all of these aspects of equity.16

The extent to which a CFS is able to eliminate stereotypes within its curriculum, learning materials, and teaching-learning processes can be assessed using the following components and process indicators. It is alsoimportant to note that teachers can engage students in reviewing and critiquing stereotypes that exist in standard textbooks and learning materials. Such an exercise raises the awareness of students and facilitatesthe elimination of persistent stereotypes.

Table 1.4 Components and Process Indicators for Assessing Stereotypes in Curriculum, LearningMaterials, and Teaching-Learning Processes of CFS




Component 1: School and Curriculum

1. The school provides flexibilityto teachers to pursue innovativeteaching methods for helping allchildren to learn.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of lesson plans


Classroom observations of teaching methods

2. The curriculum allows for different teaching methods and learning styles, such as discussion or role play.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of lesson plans, includingteaching methods

Interviews with teachers, students, and schooladministrators

Classroom observations of student activitiesand learning methods

3. The content of the curriculum relates to the everyday experiences of all children in the school whatever their background or ability.

SchoolClassroomChildFamily


Interviews teachers, school administrators, students, and parents

16 Booklet 4: Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Classrooms. In: Embracing Diversity: Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments. UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, Bangkok, Thailand. 2004.

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4. The curriculum integrates literacy, numeracy, and life skills into all subject areas andtargets all children regardless of background or ability.

SchoolClassroom



5. The curriculum promotes attitudes such as respect, tolerance, and knowledge aboutone’s own and others’ culturalbackgrounds.


Documentary review of textbooks, teacherguidelines, and allied learning materials;


6. The curriculum is adapted for different learning rates andstyles, particularly for childrenwith learning disabilities.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of lesson plans, revisedlearning materials, etc.

Observations of teacher-student interactions


Component 2: Learning Material Content

7. In learning materials, the roles of children are balancedand without discrimination,regardless of a child’s background or ability.

Classroom Documentary review of learning materials


8. In learning materials, children with diverse backgrounds and abilities are portrayed positively.

Classroom Documentary review of learning materials


9. In learning materials, the topics are interesting to childrenwith diverse backgrounds andabilities.

ClassroomChild

Documentary review of learning materials


10. In learning materials, peoplewith diverse backgrounds andabilities are included in history,literature, and art.

ClassroomChild




Process Indicators Assessment Level(s)


11. Learning materials includepictures, examples, and information about many different kinds of people, including girls and women, ethnic minorities, people of different castes and social oreconomic backgrounds, as well as people with disabilities.


Documentary review of textbooks, teacherguidelines, and allied learning materials


12. Learning materials are in the language children use in and out of school (such as onthe playground).


Documentary review of textbooks, teacherguidelines, and allied learning materials


13. In learning materials, the language used encourages children with diverse backgrounds and abilities to beinterested in the text and is freeof discrimination.

ClassroomChild




14. Teachers believe that all children – girls, poor or wealthychildren, language and ethnicminority children, as well as disabled children – can learn.

Classroom Classroom observations of teacher-studentinteractions


15. Teachers can identify culture and gender bias in teaching materials, the schoolenvironment, and in their own teaching, and can correct this bias.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of teacher training documents and schedules, as well as revisedteaching and learning materials



16. Teachers are free to adaptcurriculum, lessons, and schoolactivities to the needs of childrenwith diverse backgrounds andabilities.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of school policies, lessonplans, and revised materials and activities



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17. Teachers use content, language, and strategies in their teaching that help all students to learn regardless oftheir background or ability.

Classroom Documentary review of lesson plans

Observations of teaching practices andteacher-student interactions


18. Teachers can assess children’s learning in ways that are appropriate to the children’s abilities and needs,rather than only depending upon examination scores.

ClassroomChild

Documentary review of assessment (performance) records (e.g., continuous);



Component 4: Community Involvement

19. Community members with diverse backgrounds and abilities are invited and welcomed into the class asresource persons.

CommunityClassroomChild


Interviews with community members, students, and teachers

Component 5: Children’s Participation

20. Children understand theconcept of inclusive educationand can identify culture and gender bias in learning materials.

ClassroomChild

Documentary review of lesson and activityplans


Observations of student work

21. Children with diverse backgrounds and abilities have equal opportunities to learn and to express themselvesin the classroom and at school.

ClassroomChild


Classroom observations of teacher-studentinteractions and child participation

Review of performance documents (e.g., portfolios)

22. Children with learning difficulties have opportunities to review lessons, to have themclarified and improved upon sothey can be better understood,and to have additional tutoring.

ClassroomChild


Interviews with students and teachers

Classroom observations of teacher-studentinteractions and child participation




23. All children have opportunities to read, write, and learn in their own language(mother tongue).

ClassroomChildFamily

Documentary review of portfolios, tutorialrecords, and learning materials

Interviews with students and parents

Classroom observations of teacher-studentinteractions

24. Children with physical disabilities have opportunitiesfor physical play and development.


Observations of available facilities and studentactivities


25. Children with diverse backgrounds and abilities actively participate in outreachclubs (e.g., youth groups) andcommunity development orservice organizations (e.g., scouts).

Child Interviews with students

Observations of child participation in clubs,organizations, and community developmentgroups

14

DIMENSION 2ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CFS

QUALITY EDUCATION AND CFS

Under the CRC, every child has the right to an education (Article 28), one that is in each child’s best interests(Article 3), and, above all, one that is of good quality. Education for All cannot be achieved without improvingquality. In many parts of the world, an enormous gap persists between the numbers of students graduatingfrom school and those among them who master a minimum set of cognitive skills. A solid body of evidenceprovides guidance on what makes schools effective and the education they provide of good quality. It emphasizes especially the dynamics of the teaching and learning process: how teachers and learners interactin the classroom and how well they use instructional materials to achieve positive learning outcomes.17

Now, more than ever, CFS must assist children to realize their right to an education of good quality in severaldifferent ways. Early learning experiences should be promoted beginning at birth, so that children are optimally ready to learn. Children should be guaranteed safe, protective, and gender-sensitive spaces, free ofviolence and abuse, and ones that ensure their health and well-being. The morale, status, and motivation ofteachers must be high, and community support must be mobilized to assist teachers and schools in providingan education that meets the needs of the ‘whole’ child.18

A child-friendly school reflects a quality learning environment when it:

• Does not exclude, discriminate or stereotype on the basis of difference (CRC Article 2);• Provides education that is free and compulsory, affordable and accessible, especially to

families and children at risk (CRC Article 28);• Respects diversity and ensures equality of learning for all children, including working

children, children of ethnic minorities and those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, children with disabilities, and child victims of exploitation and violence (CRC Article 28);

• Responds to diversity by meeting the differing circumstances and needs of children based on gender, social class, ethnicity and level of ability (CRC Articles 6, 28, and 29).

Within this environment, a CFS is effective for learning when it:

• Promotes good quality teaching and learning processes that are child-centred. This includes individualized instruction appropriate to each child and active, cooperative and democratic learning methods;

• Provides structured content and good quality materials and resources; • Enhances a teacher’s capacity, morale, commitment, status, and income – and their own

recognition of child rights; • Promotes quality learning outcomes by defining and helping children learn what they need

to know and teaching them how to learn.


17 UNESCO. Education for All: The Quality Imperative. Summary to the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005, UNESCO Publishing, Paris. 2005.18 Shaeffer, S. Child-Friendly Learning Environments, Quality Education, and the Dakar Framework for Action. Presentation given at the UNICEF East Asia

and Pacific Regional Workshop on Child-Friendly Schools, Yangon, Myanmar, 10-12 February 2004.


The aim of assessing the effectiveness of CFS is to ensure the fulfilment of each child’s right to an education ofgood quality. This means creating a learning environment that promotes and demonstrates a broad definitionof quality.19

Within this environment, a CFS is effective for learning when it includes:

3 Quality learning environments, containing:• policies and practices which prohibit harassment, humiliation, violence, corporal

punishment, and substance abuse,• facilities with adequate classrooms, clean water supplies, and sanitation facilities, and• services that promote safety and physical and psychosocial health;

3 Quality learners: healthy, well-nourished, ready to learn, and supported by their family and community;

3 Quality teaching-learning processes and content: with child-centred and (life) skills-based approaches and technology applications to reduce disparities and promote learning; with relevant curricula and adequate materials for literacy, numeracy, and the essential knowledge and skills for life;

3 Quality outcomes, with defined learning outcomes (knowledge, attitudes, and skills) and suitable ways to assess them at classroom and national levels.


Gauging the effectiveness of CFS thus requires assessing three major KPAs, namely:

1. A Constructive School Policy and Management Environment for Learning;2. Good Quality, Child-Centred Teaching and Learning Processes and Outcomes; and3. Enhanced Teacher Capacity, Morale, and Motivation.

These three areas feed into achieving eight major cross-cutting outcome indicators for measuring the effectiveness of CFS, as noted in Table 2.1. Collectively, all of these outcomes aim towards ensuring that all children enjoy coming to and being in school, and their parents feel secure in sending them; that all childrenenjoy participating and learning successfully in the classroom; and that all teachers enjoy, and feel rewarded,in providing good quality instruction.

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19 Shaeffer, S. Child-Friendly Learning Environments, Quality Education, and the Dakar Framework for Action. Presentation given at the UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Workshop on Child-Friendly Schools, Yangon, Myanmar, 10-12 February 2004.

Table 2.1 Effectiveness Dimension Outcome Indicators and Their Assessment for CFS



AssessmentLevel(s)

AssessmentMethod(s)


1. Equal access to and enrolmentin school by allchildren (Universal PrimaryEducation)

Community School


Documentary review of village records


Baseline; Yearly(prior to start ofnew school year)

2. Increased student attendance, particularly among vulnerablechildren

SchoolClassroomCommunity

Documentary review of student absenteeismrecords

Interviews with school administrators, teachers,and community leaders

Each term

3. Low, to no, repetition rate,particularly among vulnerablechildren

School Documentary review of achievement records Each term

4. Low, to no,dropout rate, particularly among vulnerablechildren

School Documentary review of achievement and enrolment records

Each term

5. Low, to no, teacher absenteeism

School Documentary review of teacher absenteeismrecords (including reasons for absenteeism)


Each term

6. Increased teaching-learningtime


Documentary review of lesson plans, includingtime allocation information, as well as teacherabsenteeism records

Interviews with school administrators, teachers,and students


Each term

As noted earlier, attaining the above outcomes takes time, and the speed at which progress is made will varydepending upon each school’s situation, level of development, and limitations (human, material, and financial).Timing and progress towards achieving these outcomes as well as the development of each KPA below needsto progress at a rate suitable to each school or school cluster and be undertaken in a step-by-step, phased manner (see the sample rubric appended to this section). Because each country and school situation is different, it would be misleading to prescribe a set pattern or timetable. Persons responsible for assessing thisdimension will need to identify what is appropriate considering the CFS situation in which they find themselves.


KPA 1. A CONSTRUCTIVE SCHOOL POLICY AND MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENT FOR LEARNING

School policies, including those against discrimination and those that promote a safe and healthy learning environment for students and teachers, can help children to learn to their fullest and achieve their right to aquality education. But good policies cannot be effectively translated into action unless the learning environment is also well-managed and has adequate resources.

Table 2.2 presents three main components that should be assessed for this KPA – school policies, school-basedmanagement, and resources – as well as their process indicators and means of assessment. These indicators,as well as those of other KPAs for this dimension, come from checklists and other assessment tools being usedby CFS in the Asia and Pacific Region, as well as suggestions from UNICEF and UNESCO documents. Thesources of these indicators are noted in Appendix C. This list of process indicators is not prescriptive andshould be added to or adjusted to fit each school’s situation.

Due to their cross-cutting importance and the close interrelationship of CFS dimensions, some of the indicators– and especially those regarding policies and resources – are also included in other assessment tools associated with other CFS dimensions. Throughout this document, this repetition is intentional. It is possiblethat some CFS programme managers may concentrate on only a priority set of CFS dimensions or KPAs andtheir indicators, and especially those associated with academic effectiveness (a common priority for countriesin the Region). Under such circumstances, it is necessary to include important, relevant indicators from otherdimensions here, such as inclusion and gender, so that they are not easily forgotten (or ignored). Moreover,once they are fulfilled for one dimension or KPA, they are also automatically fulfilled for others, which helps toshow progress in all dimensions.

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AssessmentLevel(s)

AssessmentMethod(s)


7. Increased, regular use ofinnovative, child-centredlearning methods

ClassroomChild




Each term

8. Increased academic performance (children learningto their fullest ability).

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of continuing assessmentrecords (e.g., portfolios, journals; anecdotalrecords; screening tests) as well as examinationrecords

Each term

Table 2.2 Components and Process Indicators for Assessing the School Policy and ManagementEnvironment




Component 1: School Policies

1. The school has a clear mission and/or vision statementthat is prominently displayedand adequately explained to allschool personnel, students, parents, and community members. (Philippines)

SchoolFamilyChildCommunity

Observations of visible mission and/or visionstatement on a notice or information board

Interviews with school personnel, parents, students, and community members

2. The school has and enforces policies on inclusive,child-friendly education, including a policy against discrimination as well as theexclusion of students on thebasis of pregnancy, motherhood,or being affected by HIV/AIDS.(UNICEF Teachers Talking About Learning [TTL] Web site,UNESCO)


Documentary review of written records and policies

Interviews with school personnel, parents, andcommunity members

3. The school is aware of and is changing policies and practices – such as costs anddaily schedules – that preventchildren with diverse backgrounds and abilities from receiving a quality education. (UNICEF TTL,UNESCO)


Documentary review of school records onrevised school policies and practices

Interviews with community leaders, schooladministrators, and teachers

4. The school has, monitors, andenforces policies against genderdiscrimination in enrolment andteaching. (UNICEF TTL,UNESCO)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of written school missionand policy statements

Interviews with school administrators, teachers,and community leaders

5. Equitable and transparent promotion policies exist forteachers and school staff.(UNICEF TTL, UNESCO)

School Documentary review of written promotion policies and procedures


6. The school has policies againstgambling, violence (especiallybullying), pornography, the useof tobacco, alcohol, and otheraddictive substances on schoolgrounds by teachers, staff, andstudents. (China, Sri Lanka,Thailand)

SchoolChildCommunity

Documentary review of written policies, codes of conduct, and disciplinary procedures forteachers, staff, and students

Interviews with school officials, teachers, students, and community members

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7. The school has, monitors, and enforces policies againstcorporal punishment. (Myanmar)

SchoolChildFamily

Documentary review of written policies, codes of conduct, and disciplinary proceduresfor teachers regarding the use of corporal punishment

Interviews with school officials, teachers, students, and parents

8. The school has, monitors, and enforces a code of behaviour for teachers regarding proper and improperinterpersonal teacher relationsas well as teacher-student relations. (UNICEF TTL,UNESCO)


Documentary review of written policies on code of behaviour (conduct) and disciplinaryprocedures for teachers regarding proper andimproper interpersonal teacher relations as wellas teacher-student relations


9. The school has, monitors,and enforces policies against thesexual harassment and abuse ofstudents and teachers. (UNICEFTTL, UNESCO

SchoolChild

Documentary review of written policies and disciplinary procedures against sexual harassment and abuse

Interviews with school officials, teachers, andstudents

10. The school has, monitors, and enforces policies on propersanitation and hygiene by teachers, staff, and students.(UNICEF TTL, UNESCO)

SchoolChild

Documentary review of written policies and disciplinary procedures in support of proper sanitation and hygiene by teachers, staff, andstudents


11. The school has, monitors, and enforces policies on thedelivery of simple school healthand nutrition packages includingcounselling. (Philippines,UNESCO)


Documentary review of written policies on thedelivery of simple school health and nutritionservices

Interviews with local health workers, teachers,and students

Observations and records of direct delivery ofhealth and nutrition services


12. Comprehensive school plans are made, displayed publicly, and implemented.(Indonesia)

School Documentary review on plan development andtheir public display

Interviews with school officials, teachers, and community leaders/school managementcommittee members




13. Integrated school budgetsare made and displayed.(Indonesia)

School Documentary review and process documentation on budget development

Interviews with school officialsObservations of posted budget plans/schedule

14. If school clusters exist, inter-school meetings are held regularly. (Indonesia)

School Documentary review of minutes of clustermeetings, as well as cluster development plans and activities

Interviews with school officials and participating teachers

Attendance at meetings to observe proceeding

15. The school calendar andhours are flexible to fit the needsof all students. (Cambodia,Myanmar, UNICEF TTL)

SchoolCommunityChildFamily

Documentary review of school calendar/schedule and its development

Documentary review of attendance records and those of tardiness

Interviews with teachers, students, and parents

16. Poor families are exemptedfrom school fees (direct and indirect). (Cambodia, Myanmar)


Documentary review of school policies

Interviews with school administrators, community leaders and poor families, andschool management committees

17. Monitoring mechanisms exist to identify and enrol school-age girls and boys in school, totrack their attendance and learning performance, and toensure appropriate home visitswhen necessary to improve attendance. (UNICEF TTL,UNESCO)

SchoolFamilyCommunity

Documentary review of monitoring plans,reports of enrolment drives, attendance records, as well as home visit records and performance records

Interviews with school administrators, teachers, parents, and community leaders

18. The school principal provides strong direction andleadership guided by a writtensupervisory plan. (Philippines)

School Documentary review of school policies andsupervisory plans


19. Teachers, students, and community members haveopportunities and appropriatechannels to participate in schoolmanagement, education andresearch, as well as school development planning. (China,Thailand)


Review of process documentation on schoolplanning, school policies, and minutes of school management committee meetings

Interviews with school officials, communitymembers, students, and teachers

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20. The school coordinates with local pre-school centres toensure continuation of early-childhood development.(Thailand)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of minutes of school-centre meetings, school plans, and activityplans, including resource sharing

Interviews with school officials, teachers, andcentre staff

Component 3: Resources

21. The school is accessible to all, including those with learningdisabilities, those who are pregnant, or those affected by HIV/AIDS. (UNICEF TTL,UNESCO)

SchoolChild

Observations and assessment of schoolgrounds, facilities, and their use;

Interviews with students, community members,teachers, and school administrators

22. Adequate facilities exist inclassrooms and the school todemonstrate the achievements of the school, teachers, and students. (China, Sri Lanka)

SchoolClassroom

Observations of facilities

Existence of learning corners or other means to display achievements, (e.g., school and classroom notice or information boards)

23. There are adequate numbersof desks, chairs, and classroomsthat fit the needs and abilities ofall students. (China, Philippines,Sri Lanka)

ClassroomChild

Observations of classroom resources and set up


24. The school grounds allowroom for students to play safely.(China)

SchoolChild

Observations of school space and facilities, as well as children’s play activities (type andplace)


25. School buildings and facilities are clean, safe, and regularly maintained. (China)


Documentary review of maintenance scheduleObservations of existence and appearance ofschool buildings and facilities

Interviews with students, teachers, and schooladministrators

26. Classrooms are orderly and have adequate lighting, ventilation, heating or cooling.(Sri Lanka)

SchoolChild

Observations of number and position of lighting, as well as classroom set-up





27. Adequate numbers of clean and separate latrines areavailable to, and used by, girlsand boys, as well as male andfemale teachers. (China)

SchoolChild

Observations and assessment of schoolgrounds


28. All students have readyaccess to clean and reliable drinking water. (China, Sri Lanka)

SchoolChild

Observations and assessment of schoolgrounds


29. An adequate waste disposalsystem exists and is maintained.(China, Myanmar)

School Documentary review of maintenance schedules

Observations of school grounds


30. All students have inclusive,gender-friendly textbooks andassociated learning materials.(China, Sri Lanka)

ClassroomChild




31. The school, and each classroom, has adequate teaching aides, materials, technologies, and equipment for all subjects. (Sri Lanka)

SchoolChild

Observations of school space and facilities, as well as children’s play activities (type andplace)


32. The school has adequateextra-curricular activities for children and associated equipment. (Sri Lanka)

SchoolChild

Documentary review of activity records


Observations of existing activities

33. The school has adequate support staff (number, capabilities) to facilitate operations. (Sri Lanka)

School Documentary review of staffing records


Observations of existing operations

KPA 2. GOOD QUALITY, CHILD-CENTRED TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESSES ANDOUTCOMES

This KPA involves what happens in the school and classroom. A CFS is effective with children when it is child-centred. Learners do not come to the classroom equal. Socio-economic background, language, gender,disability, race, ethnicity, HIV/AIDS, and emergency situations (conflicts, disasters) create inequalities that mustbe taken into account in providing each child with a quality learning experience.

To be effective, a CFS must have the best interest of the child in mind in all of its learning activities. It mustteach a meaningful curriculum using appropriate teaching methods suited to children of different ages andbackgrounds. In addition, it must encourage children to think and decide independently and ask questions thathelp to learn how to learn.

A CFS ensures a quality learning experience when children learn the knowledge, skills, values and attitudesneeded to ensure their safe and productive futures. They learn by doing and by doing things with others. Theylearn to work equitably together to solve problems.

The following components and process indicators can be used to assess progress towards ensuring good quality, child-centred teaching and learning processes and outcomes.

Table 2.3 Components and Process Indicators for Assessing Child-centred Teaching and LearningProcesses and Outcomes

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Component 1: Curriculum and Educational Materials

1. The curriculum and classroomwork address each child’s learning needs as well as thoseof the community in a meaningful, practical way.(Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand)

SchoolClassroomCommunityChild

Documentary review of lesson plans and learning materials, as well as learning performance documents

Interviews with students, teachers, schooladministrators, and community members

2. Educational materials, textbooks, writing tools, andlearning resources are gender-sensitive and encourage activelearning in a language that children can understand. (UNICEF TTL)


Documentary review of textbooks, writing tools, and learning resources; lesson plans and learning materials; as well as learning performance documents



3. The school does not publiclyrank students by performanceresults. (Thailand)

SchoolChild


Observations of information or notice boards, etc.





4. The principal and teachers are familiar with child-centredand child-friendly principles.(Philippines)

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of training documents andschedules, revised learning materials, andschool information documents

Classroom observations of teaching practices


5. There is an adequate student-teacher ratio and distribution by subject. (Sri Lanka)

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of enrolment and staffing records


6. All teachers are trained in the CRC and actively monitorchildren’s rights within theschool and community. (UNICEF TTL)


Documentary review of training documents and schedules, as well as school reports

Classroom observations of teaching practices

Interviews with teachers and community members


7. Teachers regularly prepare lesson plans and revise themaccordingly. (Philippines)



8. Teachers have appropriatetraining in child-centred learningso that children participate actively, individual differences are respected, and children’swell-being is promoted. (UNICEF TTL)

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of training documents and schedules, as well as school reports

Classroom observations of teaching practicesInterviews with teachers

9. Teachers encourage and promote cooperative, ‘hands-on’ learning (‘learning by doing’). (Philippines,Thailand)

ClassroomChild




10. Teachers use teaching methods that are suited to each child’s age, abilities, andways of learning. (Philippines)




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11. Teachers encourage students to think and decide for themselves, ask questions,and express their opinions.(Philippines)

ClassroomChild



12. All teachers encourage participation in the classroomwith the belief that every student can learn. (UNICEF TTL)

ClassroomChild



13. Teachers regularly (continuously) monitor and assess their students’ performance, with the view of providing feedback and improving student learning performance. (Indonesia,Philippines, Sri Lanka)

ClassroomChild

Documentary review of continuous assessment/learning achievement documents



14. Teachers provide guidanceand advice concerning eachchild’s continued education and livelihood development.(Thailand)

ClassroomFamilyChild


Interviews with teachers, students, and parents

15. Negative communication is avoided. Children are notscolded. (UNICEF TTL)

ClassroomChild



16. All students are treated equally without regard to their sex, background, or ability. (UNICEF TTL)


School and classroom observations


Component 4: Child Involvement

17. All students master to their fullest ability the basicknowledge and skills of writing,reading, speaking (and listening),mathematics, and the necessaryskills that they can use for life.(Philippines)

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of continuous assessment/learning achievement documents;



18. All students are encouragedto work together in flexiblegroups to solve problems andachieve what they aim to do.(Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines)







19. All students are encouragedto express their views and feelings through the arts (music, drawing, drama) or other mechanisms, particularlyconcerning activities and life inthe school. (Indonesia,Philippines, Thailand)


Documentary review of school activity records

School and classroom observations, e.g., displays of student art and other work


20. All students participate in school activities according to their interests and withoutemphasizing competition.(Thailand)


Documentary review of activity enrolmentrecords

Observation of activities (level of participation,and by which children)


Component 5: Classroom Learning Environment

21. Classroom learning isdynamic and active, and it takes place in a context of orderand stability. (UNICEF TTL)




22. Each classroom has a ‘learning corner’ with supplementary learning materials and displays of student work. (Indonesia,Myanmar, Thailand)

SchoolClassroom Child

Observations of learning corners, displays of student work, etc.


23. Lessons and activities areorganized well. Materials andreview lessons are prepared in advance to master the information and skills at the core of the activity.(UNICEF TTL)

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of less plans and inventories of learning materials



24. Class discussions are guided toward clear goals ofunderstanding. The goals of lessons and activities are clearto learners at each step in the learning process. (UNICEF TTL)

SchoolClassroom Child



KPA 3. ENHANCED TEACHER CAPACITY, MORALE, AND MOTIVATION

A prerequisite for a school to become child-friendly is that it must also become teacher-friendly. Teachers arethe key agents for change in the classroom and the main avenue of communication between schools and families. Far too often CFS cannot achieve change due to resistance from teachers. For many reasons, teachers may resist new methods and tasks due to:

• Low recognition/value (by superiors, peer, community, personal);• Teacher resistance (fear) to change (“we don’t want to change”);• Heavy workload;• Inadequate classroom resources (quantity, quality);• Inadequate pay;• Large/diverse classes;• Other non-teaching demands (e.g., attend meetings, salary collection, secondary jobs);

and• Poor physical and social environments in the school.

Teachers’ attitudes towards themselves, the teaching profession, as well as children affect their effectivenessand teachers, their child-friendliness, and the children’s learning outcomes. Consequently, teacher-friendlymeans respecting, valuing, and accepting teachers as key players in the learning process. It means recognizingtheir needs (professional and personal), personal traits, interests, and constraints. It also means workingtowards creating an enabling environment for effective teaching and learning.

If CFS are ‘teacher-friendly,’ teachers will spend more time, and care, in teaching; there will be low, to no,teacher absenteeism; and there will be increased use of innovative, child-centred learning methods that showdefinite results in improving learning achievement. The following components and process indicators can beused to assess the progress that a CFS is making in becoming ‘teacher-friendly,’ and particularly in the eyes ofteachers, themselves.

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Component 6: Parental Involvement

25. Parents receive informationfrom the school about their children’s attendance, participation, and achievement.(UNICEF TTL)

SchoolFamilyChild

Documentary review of information distribution schedules as well as lists of and/or actual documents distributed

Existence and functioning of PTAs

Interviews with parents and students

Table 2.4 Components and Process Indicators for Assessing Teacher Capacity, Morale, andMotivation





1. The school assesses teachers’needs and wants, and developspersonnel and school plans forfulfilling these. (UNICEF)

School Documentary review of school plans, needsassessment surveys, school reports, etc.

Interviews with teachers and school officials

2. The school takes positive stepsto increase teacher recognition, such as facilitatingpromotions and achievementsharing. (UNICEF)

School Documentary review of school policies and plans; promotion schedules; teacher recognition activities and venues; etc.


3. Transparency is ensured inrecruitment, appointment, andtransfer (merit basis; gender balance). (UNICEF)

School Documentary review of school policies andplans, as well as promotion schedules


4. Concrete actions are taken to increase safe environmentsfor teachers, especially women(e.g., reduce sexual harassment).(UNICEF; UNESCO)

School Documentary review of school policies, plans,and procedures


5. The principal regularly monitors teachers’ performanceand provides needed support ina constructive, non-threateningmanner. (Philippines)

School Documentary review of monitoring schedulesand reports



6. Teachers support their co-teachers by sharing teachingtechniques and experiences.(Philippines)

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of minutes of school orteacher meetings


7. Teachers have regular opportunities for professionalcapacity building (e.g., teachernetworks, workshops, studytours, regular sharing meetings)and means for professionaladvancement (e.g., special projects, research, publications).(Philippines, UNICEF)

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of training and meetingdocuments and schedules, published or non-published materials by teachers, specialproject reports (e.g., action research), etc.


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8. Teachers are allowed opportunities to innovate (e.g.,development of classroomresources, new teaching/learningmethods [esp. for dealing withdiverse classrooms], work withcommunities to increaseresources and address importantissues such as stigmatization and gender inequality). (UNICEF, Philippines)


Documentary review of lesson plans, revised learning materials, minutes or records of teacher-community meetings or special events


Interviews with school officials, teachers, andcommunity leaders

9. Teachers have their ownlounge and/or work area.(Philippines)

School Observation and assessment of school facilities

10. Teachers and other staff aregiven annual medical check-ups.(Philippines)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of health service records

Interviews with teachers, staff, school administrators, and local health/medical personnel

Component 3: Resources

12. Tools/toolkits and otherresources are provided to teachers on time management,lesson planning, curriculumdevelopment, classroom management, disciplinaryoptions, children’s participationin teaching and learning in theclassroom, etc.

School Documentary review of school inventory lists


13. Libraries, textbooks, and teaching aids are readilyavailable and used by teachersto facilitate the teaching andtheir children’s learning.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review and observations ofexisting textbooks, teaching aides, libraryfacilities, etc.


14. “Self-assessment tools” are available for teachers to monitor their own progress andways to continue improving upon it. (UNICEF)

School Documentary review of school inventory lists





Component 4: Community Support

15. The community is mobilizedto support teachers and theirteaching (e.g., ‘Teachers Day,’assistant teachers, providingclassroom resources, facilityexpansion). (UNICEF)

CommunitySchool

Documentary review of community-schoolactivity plans, school-community meetingreports, etc.

Interviews with teachers and community leaders

Observations of school-community activities,special events, and community donatedresources

14

DIMENSION 3

ASSESSING HEALTH, SAFETY,AND PROTECTION IN CFS

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and notmerely the absence of disease or infirmity.”20

HEALTH, SAFETY, PROTECTION, AND CFS

The CRC provides a concrete message and guidance to Governments on policies and practices to reform education systems and schools so that they guarantee children’s rights to health and well-being. CFS demonstrate their concern about the ‘whole’ child and his or her rights by providing learning environments thatare healthy, psychosocially supportive, as well as safe and protective of children, especially for those children who are prone to abuse or in need of special protection.

A HEALTHY SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

Physical, mental, and social well-being are core factors in learning achievement, while good health and nutrition are essential prerequisites for effective learning.21 Good health and nutrition increases enrolment,reduces absenteeism and repetition, increases educational attainment, and brings more of the poorest andmost disadvantaged children to school.

Schools can deal with some basic health and nutrition conditions themselves and in a cost-effective manner.WHO, UNICEF, UNESCO, and the World Bank have agreed upon a core group of cost-effective components ofa school health, hygiene, and nutrition programme that form the basis for joint action to make schools healthyfor children and contribute to the development of CFS. This inter-agency initiative is called Focusing Resourcesfor Effective School Health (FRESH).22 The FRESH framework was launched at the World Education Forum inApril 2000, and it calls for four essential school health components to be made available in all schools asfollows.

1. Health-related policies in schools that help to ensure a safe and secure physical environment and a positive psychosocial environment, and address all types of school injuries and violence, such as the abuse of students, sexual harassment, and bullying, and that help maintain the education system in the face of HIV/AIDS.

2. Provision of safe water and sanitation facilities, as first steps in creating a healthy school environment that reinforces hygienic skills and behaviours; providing separate sanitation facilities and privacy for girls is an important contributing factor in reducing dropout during and before menses.

3. Skills-based health education that focuses on the development of knowledge, attitudes, values, and life skills needed to make appropriate positive decisions, to establish lifelong healthy practices, and to reduce vulnerability to substance abuse and HIV/AIDS.

4. School-based health and nutrition services that are simple, safe, and familiar, and address problems that are prevalent and recognized as important in the community, including the provision of counselling to cope with the HIV/AIDS epidemic.


20 Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 22 June 1946; entered into force on 7 April 1948.

21 Levinger, B. Critical Transitions: Human Capacity Development Across the Lifespan. Newton, MA: Educational Development Center. 1996.22 Focusing Resources on Effective School Health. Core Framework for Action: http://www.freshschools.org

Implementing these four components requires intersectoral partnerships, especially between health and education; partnerships with the community, especially PTAs; and active involvement of the school children.

In line with this Framework, CFS continuously strive to create healthy school environments by identifying andmodifying aspects of the environment that jeopardize student safety and health. Provision of safe and sufficientwater, sanitation, and shelter from the elements are basic necessities for a healthy physical learning environment. Equally important is protection from biological, physical, and chemical risks that can threatenchildren’s health.23

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Components of a Healthy Physical School Environment

Provision of basic necessities • Shelter• Warmth• Water• Food• Light• Ventilation• Sanitary facilities• Injury surveillance system• Emergency medical care• Links with community disaster preparedness programmes

Protection from biologicalthreats

• Traffic and transport• Violence and crime• Electricity• Injuries• Extreme heat and cold• Radiation • Fire• Flooding• Noise• Extreme heights

Protection from physical threats • Moulds• Unsafe or insufficient water• Unsafe food• Vector-borne diseases• Venomous animals• Rodents and hazardous insects• Other animals (e.g., dogs)

Protection from chemical threats • Air and water pollution• Pesticides• Improper use of drugs and medicines• Hazardous waste, materials, and finishes• Asbestos, lead-based paint• Cleaning agents

23 Adapted from: World Health Organization. “The Physical School Environment: An Essential Component of a Health-Promoting School.” WHO Information Series on School Health; Document 2, Geneva. 2003. http://www.who.int/school_youth_health/ media/en/physical_sch_environment.pdf

A PSYCHOSOCIALLY SUPPORTIVE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

Research on school effectiveness and the emotional well-being of children and young people has shown theimportance of a positive psychosocial school environment on students’ behaviour, mental health and well-being, and learning outcomes. Recognizing that experiences in school provide the groundwork for students’ mental health for the rest of their lives, CFS aim to improve the psychosocial development of childrenby providing a safe and protective learning environment including situations associated with school-like playtime, after-school activities, and travel between school and home. These different school-related environments have an important influence on how the child feels about going to school and in creating the optimal socio-emotional atmosphere in which to promote efficient and effective learning.

Improving the child-friendliness of the school environment can significantly contribute to creating and maintaining good mental health in children.24 By providing positive experiences for children in a joyful environment, CFS promote psychosocial and emotional health and well-being, leading to healthy self-esteemand self-confidence. To assist in this process, the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a school “psycho-social environment” (PSE) profile questionnaire (see Appendix B). It was developed from a systematic review of evidence from over 650 research articles in international literature. Schools in over 20countries worldwide also reviewed the original Profile. The PSE Profile asks questions about schools that aregrouped into seven “quality areas,” each of which can be scored separately in order to identify particular areasof friendliness or unfriendliness:25

1. Providing a friendly, rewarding, and supportive atmosphere (24 questions)2. Supporting cooperation and active learning (10 questions)3. Forbidding physical punishment and violence (21 questions)4. Not tolerating bullying, harassment, and discrimination (18 questions)5. Valuing the development of creative activities (12 questions)6. Connecting school and home life through involving parents (13 questions) 7. Promoting equal opportunities and participation in decision-making (16 questions)

A SAFE AND PROTECTIVE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

Promoting and providing a supportive learning environment in which all students can expect to feel safe is anessential function of all schools. ‘Safe and protective schools’ refers to an environment that protects the physical, emotional, and psychological well-being of students. In safe school environments, children are protected from physical harm and injuries, as well as verbal, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Thisincludes indirect forms of abuse, such as discrimination, exclusion, and isolation by their peers.

In line with the shared vision of school and community stakeholders, CFS clearly, transparently, and explicitlyspecify policies, programmes, and standard operating procedures for the physical and emotional safety andwell-being of all students. This requires developing and consistently enforcing policies that are proactive andoriented towards prevention and intervention regarding physical threats to a child’s safety; bullying, harassment, and violence; forbidding physical punishment; and promoting non-violent interaction on the playground, in class, and among staff and students. Using a whole school approach, all members of the schoolcommunity contribute to the implementation of appropriate strategies that create and maintain a safe and supportive learning environment.


24 World Health Organization. “Child-Friendly Schools Checklist,” Department of Mental Health, Department of Health Promotion, Geneva. 1999.25 World Health Organization. “Creating an Environment for Emotional and Social Well-Being: An Important Responsibility of a Health-Promoting and

Child-Friendly School.” WHO Information Series on School Health; Document 10, Geneva. 2003 http://www.who.int/entity/school_youth_health/ media/en/sch_childfriendly_03_v2.pdf

ABUSE AND HARM

CFS play a proactive role in identifying child abuse and neglect, acting in accordance with national child protection legislation and procedures including mandatory reporting. The role of the school in situations wherethere are child protection concerns is NOT to investigate but to recognize and refer to appropriate child serviceagencies. CFS thus contribute to the identification, referral, and assessment of children in need, including children who may have suffered, be suffering, or who are at risk of suffering significant harm at home or in thecommunity. CFS have procedures in place to ensure that they respond quickly and professionally to disclosuresor suspicions regarding possible harm to a child.

CFS provide professional development and training for school staff on recognizing and reporting abuse, andon building protective behaviours and resilience. Child protection education is included in the school curriculum, as well as content that explores discriminatory behaviours through an understanding of social factors such as gender, race, sexuality, disability, and religion. Students receive support on issues related tochild abuse and neglect, and CFS empower students by involving them in the decision-making and conflict resolution processes through, for example, training in peer mediation.26

CFS also recognize and address new threats from information communication technology (ICT), such as exposure to inappropriate material on the Internet or in videos that is sexual, hateful, or violent in nature, orencourages activities that are dangerous or illegal. There is a risk that while online, a child might provide information or arrange a meeting that could risk his or her safety or the safety of other family members.Consequently, children should be taught how to behave online and to avoid being rude, mean, or inconsiderate.27 A CFS should monitor students’ use of ICT to ensure that it is within the limits of acceptableuse policies, and if not, disciplinary procedures should be consistently enforced, including notification of parents.

CHILDREN IN NEED OF SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES (CNSP), ORPHANS, AND VULNERABLECHILDREN (OVC)

Inclusive CFS are welcoming, nurturing, and accessible especially to families and children at risk, and CFSdevelop special measures to identify and support such children in fulfilling their right to education. Children inneed of special protection (CNSP) include those affected by abuse, disability, discrimination, exploitation, natural disasters, orphaning, poverty, war, and HIV/AIDS. In many countries, children belonging to ethnicminority groups are especially at risk.

The AIDS epidemic, in particular, has raised new and difficult challenges for the education community. Childrenaffected or infected by the epidemic – known as OVCs – face a range of vulnerabilities. The risk to their education and future well-being is immediate. Children affected by HIV/AIDS include children orphaned byAIDS, children who are HIV positive at birth or become so early in their lives, children living with an HIV- infected parent or family members, and children living in a family which adopts orphans after another adult’sdeath. Children orphaned by AIDS often suffer stigmatization and discrimination that arise in most cases froma fear of infection coupled with a lack of understanding of the disease. If their parents’ HIV status is known, theymay be taunted or shunned by other children. In some cases, ignorant and fearful parents of other children,even teachers, might try to exclude them from school. These factors would only add to the misery experiencedby the child. Burdened by a number of psychosocial issues, AIDS-affected children may find that schoolbecomes less appealing. Unfortunately, the teachers and other students may not be sensitive to the needs ofOVCs and as a result these children are at high risk of dropping out of school. The following box highlightssome of the psychosocial issues that the counsellors in CFS should be aware of when helping OVCs.

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26 Adapted from The Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA), “National Safe Schools Framework.” Taskforce on Student Learning and Support Services, Melbourne. 2003. http://www.mceetya.edu.au/public/public.htm

27 Department for Education and Skills, UK. “Superhighway Safety: Safe Use of the Internet.” http://safety.ngfl.gov.uk/schools/

PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES COMMON IN AIDS-AFFECTED CHILDREN28

• Worry about their future, usually in silence• Fear they are infected• Feel different from other children• Lose opportunities – such as for an education• Watch parents suffer and die• Lose others as well – uncles, teachers, siblings• Change homes, sometimes more than once• Lack adult love, guidance, and protection • Incur teasing, isolation, gossip, and even neglect and abuse

These circumstances can lead to:• Shame• Withdrawal• Depression • Grief and sadness• Fear and anxiety• “Acting out” – often misunderstood

Many of the OVCs who stay in school lack the material and psychological support they need for success.29 CFS,however, are distinguished for their capacity to identify and respond to the psychosocial needs of childrenorphaned by AIDS and other children in especially difficult circumstances. Using data about an individual student’s family situation, health and nutritional status, absenteeism and dropout history, and learning achievement – as tracked by a school management information system (SMIS) – CFS can tailor support measures to meet the needs of specific students. Examples of the types of material support that CFS provideto OVCs and CNSP include waiver of tuition fees, scholarships, uniforms and books, transportation, dormitories, health services, and feeding programes. Examples of other special measures include: teacher training on counselling, building children’s self-esteem, and helping children deal with death; life skills campsfor orphans and guardians to foster communication through art therapy; collaboration in planning for thechild’s future; peer-helping programmes; livelihood skills training incorporated into the curriculum to supportincome-generation skills of orphans; drug and sexual abuse resistance training; and after-school interestclubs.30 These types of psychosocial support measures have proven successful in integrating these childreninto the school community, resulting in improved mental health, reduced behaviour problems, reduceddropout rates, and higher completion rates.


28 World Bank and UNICEF. “Education and HIV/AIDS. Ensuring Education Access for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, A Training Module.” Mombasa. 200229 Sengendo, J., and J. Nambi. “The Psychological Effect of Orphanhood: A Study of Orphans in Rakai District.”

Health Transition Review 1997; 7(suppl 1): 105–124.30 The Life Skills Development Foundation. “Child-Friendly Community Schools Approach for Promoting Health, Psychosocial Development,

and Resilience in Children and Youth Affected by AIDS.” Chiang Mai, Thailand. 2000.


The aim of this assessment is to assist CFS in identifying existing and changing conditions within the schooland community that impact upon children’s health, safety, support, and protection in order to proactively take actions to support children’s healthy learning and development. The advantages of a positive school environment can be greater well-being and happiness, an improved sense of belonging, and better quality oflife for school-related persons – students and teachers. It can result in better levels of academic achievement.It can also alter some of the more negative aspects of school life by reducing bullying, harassment, injury, andabsenteeism. It has the potential to diminish stereotyping and prejudice, fear, anxiety, depression, and loss ofmotivation. Furthermore, good physical health status and feelings of well-being during childhood providesound foundations for positive health in later adolescence and adulthood.31


Assessing the comprehensiveness of a school’s approach to establishing a healthy, safe and protective learning environment requires looking at six Key Performance Areas, namely:

1. School health, safety, and protection-related policies and procedures that provide a safe, non-violent,psychosocially supportive, and protective environment;

2. A healthy and safe physical school environment including clean water and gender-responsive sanitation facilities;

3. A psychosocially supportive school environment;4. Skills-based health education to develop knowledge, attitudes, values, and life skills

relevant to the life context of students;5. School-based health and nutritional services addressing important community health

issues (or the ability of schools to refer students to appropriate services);6. Proactive engagement with school and community stakeholders, health, social, and legal

services to effectively prevent and intervene in issues related to health, safety, and protection of students from abuse and harm.

Effective implementation of CFS interventions in these six key performance areas contributes to achieving tencross-cutting outcome indicators of a healthy, safe, supportive, and protective environment indicative of a CFS,namely:

1. High health status of students;2. Low disparities in health status of students, particularly among vulnerable children;3. Low incidence of cases of injuries and physical harm in the school-related environment

(including travel to and from home and school);4. Low incidence of cases of bullying, harassment, violence, and child abuse in the school

environment;5. Low rate of absenteeism due to health and/or psychosocial causes;6. Low disparities in absenteeism rates, particularly among vulnerable children;7. Low rate of dropout due to health and/or psychosocial causes;8. Low disparities in rates of dropout due to health and/or psychosocial causes,

particularly among vulnerable children;9. High completion rates; and

10. Low disparities in completion rates, particularly among vulnerable children.

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31 World Health Organization. “Creating an Environment for Emotional and Social Well-Being: An Important Responsibility of a Health-Promoting and Child-Friendly School.” WHO Information Series on School Health; Document 10, Geneva. 2003.http://www.who.int/entity/school_youth_health/ media/en/sch_childfriendly_03_v2.pdf

It is important to identify disparities in achieving outcome indicators in this dimension, particularly with regardto sex, economic status, ethnicity/language, caste, religion, and vulnerability (orphans, AIDS-affected children,and CNSP). CFS efforts to reduce disparities in outcomes demonstrate their commitment to ensuring fulfilmentof the right to education for all children in the school service area. The means for assessing these outcomesare shown in the Table below.

Table 3.1 Healthy, Safe and Protective Dimension Outcome Indicators and Their Assessment for CFS


Dimension OutcomeIndicators

AssessmentLevel(s)


1. High health status of students CommunitySchoolClassroomChild

Documentary review of school health and/orexamination records and student absenteeism records, surveys

Interviews with local health workersCounselling records

2. Low disparities in the healthstatus of students, particularlyamong vulnerable children

Category/group of children (sex, ethnic group,risk factor/group, etc.)

Documentary review of school health and/orexamination records, surveys

Interviews with local health workers

3. Low incidence of cases ofinjuries and physical harm in the school-related environment(including home-to-school travel)

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of school health records


4. Low incidence of cases of bullying, harassment, violence,and child abuse in the schoolenvironment

School Classroom



5. Low rate of absenteeism due to health and and/or psychosocial causes

School Classroom

Documentary review of student absenteeism records

Special studies on attendance and causes of absenteeism

6. Low disparities in absenteeism rates, particularlyamong vulnerable children

Category/group of child (sex, ethnic group, risk factor/group, etc.)

Documentary review of student absenteeism records

Special studies on attendance and causes of absenteeism

7. Low rate of dropout due to health and/or psychosocialcauses

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of enrolment/drop-outrecords

Special studies on causes of drop-out

Attaining the above outcomes is expected to be gradual, and the rate at which progress is made will varydepending upon each school’s situation, level of development, and limitations (human, material, and financial).Timing and progress towards achieving these outcomes as well as the development of each KPA below needsto progress incrementally at a rate suitable to each school or school cluster and be undertaken in a step-by-step, phased manner. Persons responsible for assessing this dimension will need to identify what isappropriate considering the CFS situation in which they find themselves.


KPA 1. SCHOOL HEALTH, SAFETY, AND PROTECTION-RELATED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Health policies in schools, including skills-based health education and the provision of some health services,can help promote the overall health, hygiene, and nutrition of children. But good school health policies shouldgo beyond this to ensure a safe and secure physical environment and a positive psychosocial environment.Such policies should promote inclusion and equity in the school environment by addressing such issues asabuse, sexual harassment, health-related practices of teachers and students, school violence including corporal punishment, bullying, and guaranteeing the further education of pregnant schoolgirls and youngmothers. Policies that help to prevent and reduce harassment by other students, and even by teachers, alsohelp to fight against the reasons why girls withdraw or are withdrawn from school. Policies regarding thehealth-related practices of teachers and students can reinforce health education: teachers can act as positiverole models for their students, for example, by not smoking in school. The process of developing and agreeingupon policies draws attention to these issues. The policies are best developed by involving many levels, including the national, regional, and district levels, as well as the school level – including the teachers, children,parents, and the wider community.32

The following table presents examples of process indicators for important characteristics of CFS that should beassessed for this KPA as well as means of assessment.


AssessmentLevel(s)


8. Low disparities in dropoutrates due to health and/or psychosocial causes, particularly among vulnerable children

Category/group of child (sex, ethnic group, risk factor/group, etc.)

Documentary review of enrolment/drop-outrecords


9. High completion rate School Documentary review of completion records

10. Low disparities in completion rates, particularlyamong vulnerable children

Category/group ofchild (sex, ethnicgroup, riskfactor/group, etc.)

Documentary review of completion records


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32 Focusing Resources on Effective School Health. Core Framework for Action: http://www.freshschools.orgf

Table 3.2 Component Process Indicators for School Health, Safety, and Protection-related Policiesand Procedures




1. The school has and enforcespolicies to provide a safe physical environment withprotection from physical, biological, and chemical risksthat can threaten the health of children and school personnel. (WHO)

CommunitySchoolClassroomChild


Interviews with school administrators andschool management committee members

2. The school has and enforcespolicies on proper sanitation andhygiene by teachers, staff, andstudents. (UNICEF TTL,UNESCO)

School Documentary review of school policies

Interviews with school administrators, schoolmanagement committee members, teachers,parents, and students

3. The school has and enforces apolicy to provide adequate numbers of clean, separate, and private toilet facilities forgirls and boys, as well as femaleand male teachers. (FRESH)

School Documentary review of school policies


4. The school has and enforcespolicies on the delivery of simpleschool health and nutrition packages including counselling.(Philippines, FRESH)

SchoolCommunity



Observations and records of direct delivery ofhealth and nutrition services

5. The school has and enforces policies to train and use teachers to deliver simple health interventions, incollaboration with health sectorworkers and with involvement ofthe local community. (FRESH)

SchoolCommunity


Interviews with local health workers, teachers, and students

Review of records of teacher training on delivery of health and nutrition services

6. The school has and enforcespolicies against gambling,pornography, use of tobacco,alcohol, and other addictive substances on school grounds byteachers, staff, and students.(China, Sri Lanka, Thailand)

School Documentary review of written policies and disciplinary procedures for teachers, staff, and students


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7. The school has and enforcespolicies, programmes, and procedures for preventing, identifying, and responding toharassment, bullying, violence,child abuse, and neglect that are known and understood by all members of the school community. (WHO PSE)

School Documentary review of school policies andrecords of incidents

Interviews with school administrators, teachers,students, and parents

Review of records of social, legal, and welfareagencies

8. The school has, monitors, and enforces policies against the sexual harassment and abuse of students and teachers.(UNICEF TTL, UNESCO)

School Documentary review of written school policies and records of incidents

Interviews with school officials, teachers, and students

9. The school has and implements skills-based health education including prevention of risk behaviour for substance abuse andHIV/AIDS. (FRESH)

School Interviews with school administrators, teachers, students, and parents

Review of curriculum and lesson plans

10. The school has policies allowing pregnant girls to remain enrolled and encouragingthem to return to school afterchildbirth. (Viet Nam, FRESH)

School Documentary review of written school policiesand records of incidents


11. The school has and enforcespolicies prohibiting corporal punishment and promoting non-physical punishment as anacceptable disciplinary procedure. (WHO PSE, Myanmar,Thailand, Philippines, China)

School Documentary review of written school policies, disciplinary procedures for teachers,and records of incidents


12. The school has policies and procedures to help teachersdeal fairly and consistently with aggression and violence.(WHO PSE).


Interviews with school officials, teachers, students, and parents

13. There is a procedure thatallows all students and parents to voice concerns about inappropriate or abusive behaviour.

School Documentary review of written school procedures, and records of incidents

Interviews with school officials, students, and parents

KPA 2. A HEALTHY AND SAFE PHYSICAL SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

The school environment may damage the health and nutritional status of schoolchildren if it increases theirexposure to hazards such as infectious disease carried by the water supply. Hygiene education is meaninglesswithout clean water and adequate sanitation facilities. It is a realistic goal in most countries to ensure that allCFS have access to clean water and sanitation, thus reinforcing health and hygiene messages, and acting as anexample to both students and the wider community. Sound toilet construction policies will help ensure thatfacilities address issues such as gender access and privacy. Separate facilities for girls, particularly adolescentgirls, are an important contributing factor to reducing dropout at menses and even before.33 Sound maintenance policies will help ensure the continuing safe use of these facilities.34 The table below presentsexamples of process indicators for important characteristics of CFS that should be assessed for this KPA as wellas means of assessment.

Table 3.3 Components and Process Indicators for Healthy and Safe Physical School Environment




14. The school has a policy toprovide opportunities to teachersto gain new knowledge and skillsthat help to maintain a safe andsecure school. (WHO PSE)

School Documentary review of written school policiesRecords of teacher training

15. The school has and enforcesacceptable use policies on safeuse of the Internet and relatedICT technologies.



33 Eastern & Southern Africa Region Education Newsletter. Vol. 5, no. 1. 2005. www.ungei.org/docs_resources/ungei_june21_2005_newsletter.pdf34 Focusing Resources on Effective School Health. Core Framework for Action: http://www.freshschools.org.



Component 1: Provision of Clean, Safe, and Sanitary Facilities

1. School buildings and facilitiesare clean, safe, and regularlymaintained. (China, Philippines)

School Documentary review of maintenance schedule

Observation of existence and appearance offacilities

2. Adequate numbers of clean,well-maintained toilets and handwashing facilities are availablewith separate, private latrines forgirls and boys, as well as femaleand male teachers. (China,Philippines, Vanuatu)

School Documentary review of maintenance schedule

Observation of existence and appearance offacilities


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3. Clean and safe drinking wateris provided to all students andschool personnel. (China,Myanmar, Vanuatu)

School Observation of existence and quality of facilities


Tests of water quality

4. Students are given opportunities to identify facilities or equipment that are hazardous or potentially injurious, and school officialsensure mechanisms to follow upon this process.

SchoolChild

Observations of the student identificationprocess

Documentary review of student reports on hazardous school facilities and equipment, as well as follow-up records by school administrators

Interviews with students and school administrators

Component 2: Disease Prevention

5. School waste is disposed of properly to avoid spreading diseases, to reduce pests, and to prevent human contact withpotentially hazardous material.(WHO PSE)

School Observation and assessment of school grounds


6. Schools act to prevent thebreeding of mosquitoes andother disease vectors on or nearschool grounds and reduce therisk of vector-borne diseases.(WHO PSE)

School Assessment of school grounds for breeding sites and vectors

7. School food services (if any) ensure safe, hygienic,and healthy food and preventfood-borne diseases. (WHO PSE)

School Interviews with students and teachers

Observation and assessment of food services,facilities, on-site vendors

Component 3: Personal Safety

8. Students and teachers feel safe in school. (WHO PSE)

School Focus groups


Survey questionnaires

KPA 3. A PSYCHOSOCIALLY SUPPORTIVE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

The ‘climate’ of a school has been identified as one of the most important features of a good (child-friendly)school. At its best, the school should be a caring, happy, and safe environment or ‘sanctuary’ in which to workand play. Where the atmosphere in a school is uncaring, non-supportive, and unrewarding, the mental healthof students and teachers can be adversely affected.

The physical punishment of children in schools is unnecessary and unacceptable for good mental health andsound education. This is a contentious issue because in some cultures violence against students, in the formof corporal punishment, may be legally sanctioned, while in other cultures it may be viewed as a form of childabuse. Corporal punishment is unnecessary because it does not work. It suppresses undesirable behaviour foronly a short period of time, while creating an atmosphere of fear or shame that is counterproductive to learning. Harsh treatment of students is associated with high rates of mental health problems including substance abuse later in adulthood. There is growing evidence that discipline is learned from encouragement,and from consequences that are fair, firm, and clearly communicated. CFS strive for a school environment witha balance of warmth, positive interest, and involvement from adults, on the one hand, and the enforcement offirm limits to unacceptable behaviour, on the other. Where limitations and rules are violated, non-hostile andnon-physical sanctions should be consistently applied. Having clear, fair rules and applying them consistentlyare vital to good order. School staff members need the opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills so that theyknow how to deal with loss of discipline and violence at all levels, ranging from verbal aggression, such asname-calling and rumours, to intervening in fights.

Bullying and harassment can make going to school an intensely unpleasant experience, and they are importantreasons why girls and boys do not want to attend school. Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination occur notonly in relation to gender, ethnic group, and disability but also for many other reasons related to appearance.Children have a fundamental right to feel safe in school and to be spared the oppression and repeated, intentional humiliation and potential danger caused by bullying and harassment. Much can be done to changethe way the school is organized and to adjust its collective attitude and atmosphere with the aim of preventingbullying. For instance, teachers’ attitudes have an important effect on whether bullying is identified and discouraged, rather than tolerated or ignored. By not treating the complaint seriously, teachers can contributeto, and even increase, the distress of those who are victims. Bullying is an issue that involves the entire community, as it occurs not only in toilets and quiet parts of the playground during school hours, but alsobefore and after school and while girls and boys are travelling to and from school. Schools need to discuss theproblem openly and produce a clear plan of action for dealing with bullying and harassment and its humiliating consequences. Increasing the capacity and motivation of children to cooperate can lead to a reduction in school bullying. Successful interventions claim a marked improvement in school climate, especially in terms of order and discipline, more positive attitudes towards school and its work, fewer victimsand fewer new victims, as well as reductions in injuries, emotional trauma, and anti-social behaviours, such asvandalism.

A key feature of a health-promoting and child-friendly school is the availability of places and opportunities forstudents to play, socialize, and participate in creative and recreational activities. Time free from the curriculumis vital to the development of a child’s imagination. Thus, the school should give careful consideration to ensuring that students have opportunities, facilities, and time to learn crafts, play in drama, music, and so on.It is also important that they are able to do this in situations where they are relatively free from undue pressures to perform under assessed conditions.35



35 Adapted from: World Health Organization. “Creating an Environment for Emotional and Social Well-Being: An Important Responsibility of a Health-Promoting and Child-Friendly School.” WHO Information Series on School Health; Document 10, Geneva. 2003.

Table 3.4 Components and Process Indicators for a Psychosocially Supportive SchoolEnvironment

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Process Indicators Assessment Level(s) Assessment Method(s)

Component 1: Providing a Friendly and Supportive Atmosphere

1. School staff encourage students to care for each other. (WHO PSE)

SchoolChild

Focus groups



2. Teachers and students carefor and help students with problems or distress. (Thailand)

SchoolChild

Focus groups

Interviews with students and teachersSurvey questionnaires

Administrators

3. Students are confident thatthey will get help and supportwhen they need it. (WHO PSE)

Child Focus groups



4. Students are concerned aboutwhat happens to each other.(WHO PSE)

Child Focus groups



5. Feedback about student’s work is accompanied by positivecomments about achievementsand suggestions for improvement. (WHO PSE)

SchoolClassroom



Documentary review of student’s work outputand teacher’s comments

6. The school does not publiclyrank children by performanceresults. (Thailand, WHO PSE)

School Interviews with students, teachers, parents, and school administrators


7. The school has measures forhelping children with specialneeds for protection (e.g.,orphans, children with disabilities, children from poorfamilies). (Thailand, China)

School Focus groups

Interviews with students, teachers, parents, andschool administrators





Component 2: Managing Behaviour, Discipline, and Violence

8. The school discipline rules arepractical and clear to everyone.(WHO PSE)

SchoolClassroom

Interviews with students, teachers, parents,and school administrators


9. The school has clear definitions of harassment, bullying, and violence availablethat are known and understoodby all members of the schoolcommunity. (Australian NationalSafe Schools Framework)

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review



10. The school has publicizedprocedures on how staff shouldintervene on bullying or harassment. (WHO PSE)

School Documentary review

Interviews with students, teachers, parents, and school administrators

11. The school has a code of conduct about how students are expected to behave. (WHO PSE)




12. The school records and monitors incidents of unacceptable behaviour, violence, and injuries reported by students and staff. (WHO PSE)

School Documentary review of records


13. The school has, monitors, and enforces a code of behaviourfor teachers regarding proper and improper interpersonalteacher relations as well asteacher-student relations.(UNICEF TTL, UNESCO)


Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators

14. Teachers do not use corporalor emotional punishment or other aggressive behavioursto discipline children. (China,Thailand, WHO PSE)

SchoolClassroom



KPA 4. SKILLS-BASED HEALTH EDUCATION

CFS promote life skills-based health education focusing on the major health problems of students and community members to ensure meaningfulness and relevance to the daily life of students. Life skills-basededucation is designed to facilitate the practice and reinforcement of psychosocial skills in a culturally and developmentally appropriate way. It contributes to the promotion of personal and social development, the prevention of health and social problems, and the protection of human rights. Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges ofeveryday life. In particular, life skills are psychosocial competencies that help people make informed decisions,solve problems, think critically and creatively, communicate effectively, build healthy relationships, empathizewith others, and cope with emotions and stress to manage their lives in a healthy and productive manner. Lifeskills may be directed toward personal actions or actions toward others, or they may be applied to actions thatalter the surrounding environment to make it conducive to health and wellbeing.

This approach to health, hygiene, and nutrition education focuses developing the knowledge, attitudes, values,and life skills needed to make and act on the most appropriate and positive health-related decisions. Health inthis context extends beyond physical health to include psychosocial and environmental health issues.Unhealthy social and behavioural factors not only influence lifestyles, health, and nutrition. They also hinder

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Process Indicators Assessment Level(s) Assessment Method(s)

15. Teachers have the opportunity to gain new knowledge and skills that help to maintain a safe andsecure school. (WHO PSE)

School Documentary review of teacher trainingrecords


Component 3: Valuing Creative Activities and Recreational Experiences

16. There are regular times available for recreation and play during the school day.(WHO PSE)




17. All students have opportunities to experience creative learning experiencesthat are free from the stress ofcompetition and examinations,e.g. music, art, drama. (WHOPSE)




18. There is a programme ofactivities outside of school hoursthat boys and girls can joinaccording to their interests, suchas informal sports teams, youthclubs, and community serviceorganizations. (WHO PSE)

SchoolChild

Documentary review



education opportunities for a growing number of school-age children and adolescents. The development ofattitudes related to gender equality and respect between girls and boys, and the development of specific skills,such as dealing with peer pressure, are central to effective skills-based health education and to creating positive psychosocial environments. When individuals have such skills they are more likely to adopt and sustain a healthy lifestyle during schooling and for the rest of their lives.

Life skills-based education should proceed in an age-appropriate way. Life skills for health, for example, canprovide opportunities for learning by identifying locally common and significant health problems (diarrhoea,intestinal parasites, malaria, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, etc.) and developing the knowledge, attitudes, andskills to promote healthy behaviour. The emphasis is on developing positive behaviour, which is easier thanchanging negative or risky behaviour once it has arisen. The scope of life skills-based health education meansthat it can be applied to a wide range of areas, especially STD and HIV/AIDS prevention. It can also encompassviolence, substance abuse, unwanted situations such as early pregnancy, water and sanitation-related diseases, and all areas where knowledge attitudes and skills play a critical role in combating disease and promoting a healthy lifestyle for children and young people.36

The table below presents examples of process indicators for important characteristics of CFS that should beassessed for this KPA as well as means of assessment.

Table 3.4 Components Process Indicators for Assessing Skills-based Health Education




1. The school integrates [life]skills-based health education inits curriculum. (Philippines)

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of curriculum and lesson plans

Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators


2. The life skills-based curriculum targets students of different ages and developmental stages with appropriate, relevant messages. (FRESH)

School Documentary review of curriculum and lesson plans



3. Students learn subject matter that can be utilized in real life in their locality.(Thailand)

SchoolClassroom




36 Focusing Resources on Effective School Health. Core Framework for Action: http://www.freshschools.org

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4. The curriculum has clearlydefined indicators for skillsdevelopment. (Myanmar)

SchoolClassroom




5. Life skills programmes are adapted to meet local socio-cultural norms, values and religious beliefs. (FRESH)

School Documentary review of curriculum and lesson plans



6. The school uses participatory activities to personalize information, explore attitudes and values, and practice skills. (FRESH)

SchoolClassroom




7. The school provides teacher training to help them master basic informationabout HIV/AIDS and become confident with life skills trainingmethods. (FRESH)

School Documentary review of teacher training


9. Families and communities aremobilized through the schoolsand PTA to assist teachers andstudents to utilize what is learnedand practice skills outside theclassroom. (Malaysia, Myanmar)

SchoolCommunity

Interviews with community leaders, familymembers, students, teachers, and schooladministrators

10. Teachers are provided lesson planning guidelines that aid in life skills developmentand in self-assessment. (Lao PDR, Myanmar)

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of guidelines and lesson plans


11. The school has developedappropriate linkages to physicaland mental health services,including counselling, and access to the commodities thatwill promote safer behaviour.(Thailand)

School Interviews with local health workers, teachers, and school administrators

Observations of the existence of relevant commodities

Documentary review of commodity obtainmentand distribution records, as well as counsellingrecords (obtained in a confidential manner)

KPA 5. SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH AND NUTRITIONAL SERVICES

Schools can effectively deliver – or refer students to – health and nutritional services, provided that these services are simple, safe and familiar, and address problems that are prevalent and recognized as importantwithin the community. If these criteria are met, then the community sees the teacher and school more positively, and teachers perceive themselves as playing important roles. For example, micronutrient deficiencies (such as iron, iodine, and vitamin A) and worm infections may be effectively dealt with by infrequent (six-monthly or annual) oral treatment. Changing the timing of meals, or providing a snack toaddress short-term hunger during school – an important constraint to learning – can contribute to learning performance. In addition, providing spectacles will allow some children to fully participate in class for the firsttime.37

Table 3.6 Components and Process Indicators for Assessing School-based Health and NutritionalServices




Component: School-based Health and Nutrition Services

1. The school provides annualhealth screening examinations of students and keep healthrecords. (Philippines, China)

School Documentary review of school and health station records

Interviews with students, teachers, parents,school administrators, and health workersSurvey questionnaires

2. The school provides simpletreatments and referral to otherhealth and community services,as available. (FRESH, Philippines,China)


Interviews with students, teachers, parents,school administrators, and health workers


3. The school provides micronutrient supplements (vitamin A, iron, iodine). (FRESH, Cambodia, Viet Nam)




4. The school provides de-worming treatment of parasitic helminth infections.(FRESH, Cambodia, Viet Nam)





KPA 6. PROACTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS ANDSERVICE PROVIDERS

The success of school health programmes demands an effective partnership between Ministries of Educationand Health, and between teachers and health workers. The health sector retains the responsibility for thehealth of children, but the education sector is responsible for implementing, and often funding, the school-based programmes. These sectors need to identify responsibilities and present a coordinated actionplan to improve health and learning outcomes from children.38

Regarding protection from child abuse, research has shown that the best results come from long-term schoolprogrammes that are realistic about the issues involved in child maltreatment, and that involve parents andcaregivers. While personal safety information cannot be shown to stop abuse (of any kind), it does help students to report quickly and seek assistance. The key to improving child protection in schools is professional development for all members of staff, coupled with good working linkages with social and legalagencies responsible for child welfare and law enforcement. The involvement of the broader school community (community organizations, women’s groups, local government, social and legal agencies) canenhance and reinforce school health, safety, and child protection promotion programmes. These partnerships,which should work together to make schools more child-friendly, can jointly identify health, safety, and protection issues that need to be addressed through the school and then help design and manage activities to address such issues.


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5. The school has feeding programmes for under-nourishedstudents. (Cambodia,Philippines, Thailand, FRESH)

School Documentary review of school records



6. The school conducts screeningand referral of children with disabilities, especially those withsight and hearing impairments.

School Documentary review of school records

Interviews with students, teachers, parents,school administrators, and health care workers



Table 3.7 Components and Process Indicators for Assessing Pro-active Engagement of School andCommunity Stakeholders and Service Providers




Component 1: Parental Involvement

1. Parents have the opportunityto discuss the school‘s policiesand codes of conduct and tocontribute to decision-making bythe school. (WHO PSE)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review

Interviews with parents and school administrators


2. Parents are informed aboutpolicies and codes of conduct inthe school. (WHO PSE)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review



3. Parents are closely involved in preventing harassment, bullying and violence, and areinformed and consulted whentheir own children are involved inincidents. (Australian NationalSafe School Framework)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review



Component 2: School-Community Linkages

4. School health and nutritionprogrammes are undertakenthrough partnerships with healthand education workers, teachers,parents, students, and membersof the community. (FRESH,Philippines)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of school and health station records



5. The school coordinates with the community and localauthorities to ensure the safetyand protection of students.(Philippines)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review

Interviews with students, teachers, parents,school administrators, and local authorities


6. The school can identify and respond to the psychosocialneeds of orphaned children and other children in especiallydifficult circumstances. (Thailand)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review



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7. The school coordinates with community institutions toidentify and refer for assistancethose children who appear to bephysically or sexually abused orwho are made to do hard physical labour. (Philippines)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review

Interviews with students, teachers, parents,school administrators, local authorities


DIMENSION 4

ASSESSING THE GENDER-FRIENDLINESS OF CFS

GENDER AND CFS

Article 2 of the CRC establishes that all rights declared in the convention must be respected without discrimination on the grounds of sex, meaning that State Parties are required to protect children against gender discrimination. Gender is an integral aspect of all areas of education, to ensure not only that the basicneeds of girls and boys are met, but that they have the opportunity to achieve their full potential and realizetheir human rights. Gender equality is also crucial to the achievement of other CRC goals.

Unfortunately, gender is not a major feature in the practice of any CFS programme. One of the major reasonsfor this is that it is a foreign term for many countries and cultures, and thus not well understood. In addition,education professionals often equate gender with conduct (what ‘boys are supposed to do’ versus what ‘girlsare supposed to do’), and they do not see the broader picture of socially constructed roles and stereotypes thataffects such conduct.

While ‘sex’ identifies the unchangeable biological differences between women (girls) and men (boys), ‘gender’refers to the social roles and responsibilities that are believed to belong to men and women within aparticular social group; for example, ‘men as income earners’ and ‘women as child caregivers.’ Gender rolesare created by a society and are learned from one generation to the next as part of a society’s culture. Becausegender is a socially learned perception (for instance, learned in the family or in school), anything associatedwith it can be changed to achieve equity and equality for both women and men. In other words, we can changethe gender roles of ‘women as child caregivers’ to ‘women as income earners,’ ‘men as income earners’ to‘men as child caregivers,’ or, better yet, ‘men and women as income earners and child caregivers.’39

When it comes to school and learning, the attitudes and actions of families and teachers can dramatically affectthe cognitive development of girls and boys. Families participate by defining the different roles that boys andgirls should play, and this process starts early. Cross-cultural research shows that children are aware of gender differences and stereotypes at around two to three years old. By the age of four to five, children wantto show mastery of their gender roles, which are more rigid and stereotyped than they will be later. Likewise,in some cultures, education is not even considered appropriate for girls at all.40

Moreover, teachers, parents, and often girls and boys themselves may deny that they are biased in terms ofgender, and they may be quite truthful that this is what they believe. It is difficult for them to see a ‘problem’ when it has become a normal, ingrained part of their lives. Everyone grows up among the influencesof their families and cultures, and teachers may see themselves, rightly, in the role of instilling cultural valuesin the children in our classes, even if these values place boys in a superior position to girls. But asking suchquestions as “Are there alternatives to girls cleaning the classroom?” or “What would happen if boys did thecleaning, while girls moved the desks?” can cause them to reflect, reconsider, and look more closely at theirown assumptions. They can begin to see how traditional gender norms can affect their decisions and behaviours, which is an essential first step on the road to gender equality.


39 Exploring and Understanding Gender in Education: A Qualitative Research Manual for Education Practitioners and Gender Focal Points. UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, Bangkok. 2005.

40 Gender and Learning. UNICEF–Teachers Talking About Learning. [On-line] available from: http://www.unicef.org/teachers

Assessing the gender responsiveness of CFS means exploring and understanding the ways in which socially defined gender roles and responsibilities are reflected in our CFS programme as a whole; in the curriculum, textbooks, and other learning materials; and in the way children are taught in the classroom. Forinstance, in a CFS, do girls and boys have equal opportunities to enter school? Do girls and boys interact witheach other as equals? Do girls and boys interact differently with their teachers (male and female)? Are genderstereotypes reflected in the curriculum that the children are taught, in the textbooks that they use, as well as inthe clubs and extra-curricular activities available to girls and boys?


The aim in assessing the gender responsiveness (sensitivity) of CFS is to promote gender equality in the classroom, the school, and, by extension, the wider CFS system. It is about moving away from looking at children collectively as ‘students’ to focusing more on assessing the specific situation of ‘girls’ and ‘boys‘within the classroom and school to ensure gender equality in learning for both. It is also about not assumingthat a ‘child-friendly school’ is automatically a ‘girl-friendly’ (or ‘boy-friendly’) school. Achieving gender-friendliness requires honesty and a step-by-step approach to bridging the gap between girls and boysin terms of the school environment and teaching-learning processes.


A CFS assessment on gender responsiveness is thus a crucial step towards ensuring gender equality for girlsand boys and eliminating gender stereotyping. This means that girls and boys have equal opportunities to enterschool as well as equal opportunities to participate in, and benefit from, the range of subjects or other learningexperiences that are offered in classrooms and schools. In addition, through gender-sensitive curricula, learning materials, and teaching-learning processes, they become equally equipped with the skillsand attitudes that will help them to achieve their fullest potential within and outside of the educational systemregardless of their sex. Consequently, assessing the gender responsiveness of CFS requires looking at threemajor KPAs, namely:

1. Quality, Gender-Friendly Learning Environments;2. Gender-Friendly Curricula and Learning Materials; and3. Gender-Friendly Teaching and Learning Processes.

Collectively, these three areas feed into achieving three major cross-cutting outcome indicators for measuringthe gender-friendliness of CFS, all of which aim towards the full enrolment and completion of girls and boys.These three outcome indicators for the gender dimension are:

1. Equal access to and enrolment in school by girls and boys;2. Equality in the learning process by girls and boys; and3. Equality in learning achievement levels for girls and boys.

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The means for assessing these outcomes are shown in the Table below.

Table 4.1 Gender Dimension Outcome Indicators and Their Assessment for CFS

Once again, it must be remembered that attaining the above outcomes is not an overnight event, and the speedat which progress is made will vary depending upon each school’s situation, level of development, and limitations (human, material, and financial). Timing and progress towards achieving these outcomes as well asthe development of each KPA below needs to be undertaken at a rate suitable to each school or school cluster and be undertaken in a step-by-step, phased manner (see the sample rubric appended to this section).Because each country and school situation is different, it would be misleading to prescribe a set pattern ortimetable. Persons responsible for assessing this dimension will need to identify what is appropriate considering the CFS situation in which they find themselves.



AssessmentLevel(s)

Assessment Method(s)Sources of Data

Frequency ofCollection or

Reporting

1. Equal access to,enrolment in, and completion of schoolby girls and boys (All girls and boys inschool; UniversalPrimary Education)

CommunitySchool

Interviews with community leadersand school administrators

Documentary reviews of village census records and, if available, student tracking systems/schoolmonitoring mechanisms


2. Equality in the learning process bygirls and boys(All girls and boysequally participating in and benefiting fromlearning and the teaching-learningprocess)

School Classroom Child

Review of textbooks and other learning materials (assess degree of gender bias)

Observed classroom teaching methods, teacher-child interactions,and level of child participation (girls and boys)


Documentary reviews of lessonplans, subject enrolment records,etc.

3. Equality in learningachievement by girlsand boys(All children achievingto their fullest ability)

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of continuingassessment records (e.g., portfolios)and examination records

Observations (e.g., journals; anecdotal records; screening tests);

Documented absenteeism, dropout, and transition rates

Baseline; Yearly (prior to start of new school year)

Baseline; Each school term

Baseline; Each school termand, ideally, on anongoing basis


KPA 1. QUALITY, GENDER-FRIENDLY LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

A quality, gender-friendly learning environment is one in which girls and boys feel equally comfortable inattending school and participating in learning, as well as one in which parents are encouraged to enrol theirdaughters and sons. Creating such an environment means that the social climate and physical conditions ofthe school must be welcoming and both girl- and boy-friendly.

Some of the indicators for assessing the gender-friendliness of a school’s learning environment include the following. Once again, this list is not prescriptive and should be adjusted to fit the school’s situation.

Table 4.2 Components and Process Indicators for Quality, Gender-Friendly Learning Environmentsand Their Assessment within CFS

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Component 1: School Policies and Management

1. Girls and boys have equalaccess to a free and compulsoryeducation.

SchoolCommunity

Interviews with school administrators, community leaders, and school managementcommittee members

2. A school mission and/or vision statement and policiesagainst gender discrimination in enrolment and teaching existand are enforced.

School Documentary review of written school missionand policy statements

Interviews with school administrators, community leaders, and school-managementcommittee members

3. Policies against bullying, discrimination, and sexualharassment exist and areenforced.


Documentary review of written school policystatements and disciplinary records

Interviews with students, teachers, and staff

Anonymous student surveys

4. Girls and boys participateequally in setting classroom and school rules and regulationsand determining disciplinarymeasures, especially for preventing violence, abuse, and discrimination.


Documentary review of process documents,written rules, regulations, and disciplinarymeasures


5. A master list exists of all pre-school and school age girlsand boys in the community,whether enrolled or not.

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of master list

Interviews with school administrators and community leaders




6. Monitoring plans are developed and carried out toidentify and enrol school agegirls and boys in school, to monitor their attendance, and toundertake appropriate home visits when necessary toimprove attendance and learningperformance.

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of monitoring plans,reports of enrolment drives, attendancerecords, records of home visits, performancerecords, etc.

Interviews with school administrators, teachers, and community leaders

7. Convenient, affordable, and safe mode of transportis available from home to school all year round for girls and boys.

SchoolCommunity Child

Documentary review of school transportationrecords

Interviews with community leaders, school officials, and students

Observations of modes of transportation, theiroperation, and safety features/procedures


8. Regular community campaigns are conducted toencourage parents to enrol girlsand boys in school.


Documentary review of campaignplans/records


9. Community leaders and parents are equally supportive of girls and boys in attendingschool.


Interviews with community leaders, parents,and school-management committee members

10. Community leaders and parents value female and maleteachers equally.

CommunityFamily

Interviews with parents and community leaders

Component 3: Facilities and Services

11. Girl-friendly facilities exist and are used, such as separatelatrines and changing rooms forgirls and boys.

SchoolChild

Observation and assessment of school grounds


12. Class sizes are reasonable and classes are orderly.

Classroom Classroom observations

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13. Girls and boys have equalaccess to clean, safe drinkingwater and healthy, nutritiousfood.

SchoolChild

Observations of water supplies, food services, and school grounds


Documentary review of student healthrecords

14. Regular health services(e.g., check-ups, dental exams,growth monitoring) are provided equally to girls and boys.

SchoolChild


Interviews with local health workers, schoolofficials, and students

15. Girls have access to feminineor hygiene commodities andservices

SchoolChild



Observations of ongoing activities

Component 4: Learning Activities

16. Girls have the same access to and opportunities for physical play and otherextracurricular activities asboys.

SchoolChild

Documentary review of activity enrolmentrecords


Observations of existing activities

17. Teachers and children organize activities that create a gender-friendly culture ofpeace in school, includingsports, cultural events, etc.

ClassroomChild




18. Teachers and children organize activities that create a gender-friendly culture ofpeace in school, includingsports, cultural events, etc.

ClassroomChild




KPA 2. GENDER-FRIENDLY CURRICULA AND LEARNING MATERIALS

Prejudice and discrimination can be reflected unintentionally in our curriculum and learning materials. This isthe case when textbooks present images of boys and girls that reinforce different kinds of behaviour. In a setof textbooks, for instance, boys may be depicted as ‘heroes,’while girls are depicted as passive participants (ifthey participate at all). Furthermore, when girls see themselves represented in textbooks as being passive andboys active, they may assume that they too should be passive, which often leads to little participation in classand perhaps even to poor performance in mathematics and science. For example, girls may be discouraged orafraid to use mathematics materials or engage in science experiments because these may be regarded as‘boys’ activities.’ Consequently, a CFS requires that the curriculum and learning materials are free of genderbias. Some of the indicators that can be used to assess the gender-friendliness of CFS curricula and learningmaterials include the following.

Table 4.3 Components and Process Indicators for Assessing the Gender-Friendliness of Curriculaand Learning Materials Used in CFS




Component 1: Curriculum and Resources

1. The curriculum reflects therealities and needs of daily lifefor girls and boys.

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of curriculum

Interviews with students, parents, and community leaders

2. The curriculum promotespeace and equality for girls andboys regardless of their race,class, caste, religious, or ethnicbackground.

SchoolCommunityChildFamily

Documentary review of curriculum and learning materials

Interviews with students, parents, and community leaders

3. Girls and boys share essentialtextbooks and learning materialsequally.

ClassroomChild

Documentary review of material distribution lists



Component 2: Learning Material Content

4. Teaching and learning materials portray girls and boys of varying socio-economicbackgrounds with equal prominence, potential, and respect.

ClassroomChild

Documentary review of textbooks, teachers’ guides, and allied learning materials


5. Learning materials are free of gender bias (e.g., terms such as “he” or ”she” are used in equal frequency).

ClassroomChild



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6. Exercises and stories featuregirls and boys equally andreflect their life situation in agender-fair manner.

ClassroomChild



7. Exercise questions are equally meaningful to both girls and boys.

ClassroomChild


Documentary review of lesson plans, learning materials, and learning achievement documents

8. The roles, responsibilities, and activities of girls and boysreflect a balance of power anddecision-making (e.g., girls canbe doctors or scientists, boyscan be teachers or nurses).

ClassroomChild



9. The domestic, volunteer, and community roles of girlsand boys are given equal space and value.

ClassroomChild



10. Girls and boys aredepicted in photos, graphics,and illustrations with equal frequency and with equal status (no gender stereotypes).

ClassroomChild



11. Story lines reflect the successes of girls and womenbased on their own initiative and intelligence, and not on their “good looks.”

ClassroomChild



12. Girls and boys are depictedequally in leadership positionsand as ‘heroes.’

ClassroomChild



13. Girls and boys are depicted equally in terms oftheir confidence, intelligence,and their problem-solving skills.

Classroom Documentary review of textbooks, teachers’ guides, and allied learning materials


KPA 3. GENDER-FRIENDLY TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESSES

Unfortunately, teachers and schools may reinforce gender stereotypes through the different expectations thatthey have for the boys and girls in their classes. Teachers may also create learning environments in which boysare encouraged to succeed while girls are allowed to fail. In extreme cases, teachers may

• call on boys to answer questions more often than they call on girls; • assign housekeeping tasks to girls, and tool-using tasks to boys; • reward boys for right answers, and withhold praise from girls; • criticize girls for wrong answers; • give more responsibilities to boys than girls (such as being the head of the class or head

of a group); or• make use of textbooks and other learning materials that reinforce harmful gender

stereotypes.

In some countries, moreover, boys may feel marginalized in classroom interactions, particularly where theteaching profession is highly female. Moreover, many teachers – let alone students – may be completelyunaware that they treat girls and boys differently. Nonetheless, teachers have a clear responsibility to createopportunities for all children, girls and boys, to learn to the best of their abilities.

In some societies, gender equality may go against cultural traditions. In such cases, it is not necessary tooppose directly ideas that are important to a local culture or community. However, it is necessary to understand how such ideas influence teaching and learning practices and the opportunities for learning that allchildren should have and try to reduce the impact of these ideas on ultimate gender equality.

If we are to ensure equality in the learning process and achievement, then we must work to ensure gender-friendly teaching and learning processes. Some of the components and indicators that we can use toassess these processes include the following.




14. Women are depicted asimportant actors in history, aswell as important contributorsto art and literature.

ClassroomChild



15. Especially for young children, there is a gender balance in stories about animals.

ClassroomChild



Table 4.4 Components and Process Indicators for Assessing the Gender-Friendliness of Teachingand Learning Processes within CFS

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1. All teachers are involved infinding school-age girls andboys who should be in theirclassrooms.

SchoolCommunity

Interviews with teachers, school administrators, and community leaders

Documentary review of home visits records,as well as records of community educationdrives or campaigns

2. All teachers expect andencourage girls and boys tospeak and contribute equally.

ClassroomChild



3. All teachers value the views of girls and boys equally.

ClassroomChild



4. All teachers believe that both boys and girls can learnequally in all subjects, especially literacy, numeracy,science, and life skills.

ClassroomChild



5. All teachers equally encourage girls and boys to complete school.

SchoolClassroom



6. All teachers are trained to and are active in identifying gender bias in teaching materials, the school environment, and their ownteaching, and can correct thisbias.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of training materials and schedules, as well as revised learningmaterials



7. All teachers help studentslearn to identify and correct gender bias in learning materials and interpersonal relationships.


Documentary review of revised learningmaterials and lesson plans



8. All teachers receive trainingand support to girls and boys on reproductive health.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of training materialsand schedules, as well as health and/or counselling records





Component 2: Role Models

9. If the school has more thanone teacher, there are femaleteachers who are role modelsfor girls and male teachers whoare role models for boys.

School Observations of teachers


10. School administrators treatmale and female teachers thesame.

School Observations of teacher-principal interactions


11. Learning materials, especially new ones, are examined to see if there are positive role models for girls and boys.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of revised learning materials




12. Community women andmen with special knowledge or skills are invited and welcomed into the class as resource persons.

CommunityClassroomChild


Interviews with community members, students, and teachers

Component 4: Child Learning Experiences

13. Children are guided in analyzing existing learningmaterials to identify genderbiases and correct them in agender-fair manner.

ClassroomChild

Documentary review of textbooks, teachers’ guides, lesson plans, and alliedlearning materials

Interviews with teachers and student

14. Children are guided in analyzing commonly availableillustrations, advertisements,and media from a gender perspective.

ClassroomChild



15. Girls and boys feel confident in making subjectchoices that may not be traditionally male or female subjects.

Child Interviews with students

Documentary review of subject enrolment records

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16. Girls and boys are givenequal opportunities in class to express themselves andachieve success in core subjects.

ClassroomChild

Classroom observations of teaching methods, teacher-child interactions, and child participation


17. Girls are supported toachieve well in mathematics and science.

ClassroomChild

teacher-child interactions, and child participation


18. Girls and boys are equallyassigned major responsibilities,such as being the head of theclass or group or being the classmonitor.

ClassroomChild

Classroom observations of teacher-child interactions and child participation


19. Cooperative learning methods are used, and girls and boys are encouraged to work together.

ChildClassroom


Classroom observations of teacher-student and student-student (peer) interactions

20. Girls and boys share learningmaterials equally.

ChildClassroom



21. Older girls who are achieving well help younger girls, especially with mathematics and science.

ChildClassroom


Classroom observations of student (peer-to-peer) learning

DIMENSION 5

ASSESSING THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE STUDENT,FAMILY, AND COMMUNITY IN CFS

“What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child,that – must the community want for all of its children.

Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely.”41

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH, AND ENABLING OF, STUDENT, FAMILY, ANDCOMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

CFS demonstrate their concern about the ‘whole’ child by proactively enabling and engaging participation ofstudents, parents, and communities in partnerships to provide effective learning environments that promoteinclusion, health, safety, psychosocial support, gender-responsiveness, and protection of children’s rights.

The near-universal ratification of the CRC reflects a global commitment to the principles of children’s rights,and, by ratifying the Convention, governments state their intention to put this commitment into practice. Thetask, however, must engage not just governments but all members of society. The standards and principlesarticulated in the Convention can only become a reality when they are respected by everyone – within the family, within schools and other institutions that provide services for children, within communities, and withinand between all levels of administration.

The Convention highlights and upholds the primary importance of parents and families in protecting children’srights. There is a misperception that the Convention takes responsibility for children away from their parentsand other legal guardians and gives more authority in this area to governments. This is not the case. In several articles, the Convention refers to the role of parents and families directly and charges governments withprotecting and assisting families in fulfilling their essential role as nurturers of their children. It calls on governments to respect the responsibility of parents, legal guardians, and other caregivers for providing appropriate guidance to children about the exercise of children’s rights.42

The Convention also strongly advocates for children’s participation and the upholding of their rights to participation, namely: the right to access information, the right to expression, the right to involvement in decision-making, and the right to association. In order to promote these participation rights, it is necessary tohave an enabling environment within the school, family, community, and society at large. In this context, suchissues as inclusion, language, corporal punishment, a safe environment, gender equality, etc. are crucial. All ofthese factors require an environment where all children can participate and exercise their participation rights.


41 John Dewey. “The School and Social Progress.” Chapter 1 in The School and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1907, pp. 19-44. 42 UNICEF. ”Who’s responsible for protecting children’s rights?” http://www.unicef.org/crc/crc.htm

SELECTED INDICATORS OF CHILD PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL – PHILIPPINES NATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR CHILD PARTICIPATION

1. Education is compulsory and free (access to and participation in education, access to information).

2. Students are able to express their views through student-centred teaching/learning methods.

3. Students have access to relevant information from different sources (on their rights, sexuality, HIV/AIDS, etc.).

4. Students manage school publications.5. The school system ensures student participation in school management, such as

curriculum development, as well as student councils and other organizations initiated and managed by students, with equitable gender and age distribution among members of these organizations.

6. Mechanisms for complaints and redress accessible to children in cases of corporal punishment and other forms of abuse.

7. Existence of legal restrictions on taking physical measures (including physical restraint) against children in institutional settings.

8. Teachers and school administrators consider children’s views, ideas, opinions, and suggestions in planning and decision-making.

In addition, a major trend over the past decade has been to develop a more ‘holistic’ policy and implementation framework for promoting child rights and protection that engages a range of partners. Puttingthe concepts of CFS into practice requires that schools actively work with students, parents, and communitymembers and establish mechanisms for meaningful participation. CFS are by nature community-based,encouraging local partnership in education, acting in the community for the sake of children, and working withother ‘duty bearers’ to ensure the fulfilment of children’s rights. Systematically including these partners, moreover, is essential for making progress in the other four CFS dimensions.


The aim of this assessment is to explore the comprehensiveness of a CFS’s approach to encouraging the participation of students, families, and communities in creating a learning environment that promotes inclusion; academic effectiveness; health, safety, and psychosocial support; gender-responsiveness; and theprotection of children’s rights.


Assessing the comprehensiveness of a school’s approach to involving student, family, and community participation to improve child-friendliness thus requires looking at three Key Performance Areas, namely:

1. Mechanisms for students to express their views about school work and school life and to participate in student and school organizations;

2. Mechanisms for building school-parent partnerships for school policy-making, management, and the development and protection of students; and

3. Mechanisms for building school-community partnerships for school management and support, student protection, and community improvement.

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Moreover, it is extremely important to note that school-parent and school-community partnerships are not one-way streets, that is, how parents and communities can assist schools. An integral part of KPAs 2 and 3noted above is that they also include mechanisms whereby the school reaches out and becomes more involvedin family and community life.

Effective implementation of CFS interventions in these three Key Performance Areas contributes to achievingnine outcome indicators, namely:

1. Students regularly access opportunities to express their views about decisions regarding school work and school life;

2. Students participate actively in student organizations (e.g., teams, clubs) according to their interests;

3. Communication between home and school is regular, two-way, and meaningful;4. Parents play an integral role in assisting student learning;5. Parents are welcome in the school, and their support and assistance are actively sought;6. Parents are full partners in decision-making on issues affecting their children’s education;7. Community members and local organizations participate through mechanisms to involve

them in school management;8. Community resources are used to strengthen schools, student learning, and the support

and protection of students;9. Schools are involved in family and community life and actively work to build the

capacities of and relationships with parents and other community members.

The means for assessing these outcomes are shown in the table below.

Table 5.1 Outcome Indicators for Assessing the Involvement of Student, Family, and CommunityParticipation



Assessment Level(s)


1. Students regularly accessopportunities to express theirviews about decisions regardingschool work and school life.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of student complaints,suggestions, participation in meetings, assessments, planning, monitoring, and evaluation of school improvement

Interviews and focus groups with students


2. Students participate activelyin student organizations according to their interests.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of student council meetings, interest club activities, and student organizations

Interviews and focus groups with students


3. Communication betweenhome and school is regular, two-way, and meaningful.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of communicationsbetween home and school

Interviews and focus groups with parents,teachers, and school administrators


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Assessment Level(s)


4. Parents play an integral rolein assisting student learning.

SchoolClassroom

Interviews and focus groups with parents,teachers, and students


5. Parents are welcome in theschool, and their support andassistance are actively sought.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of communicationsbetween home and school



6. Parents are full partners indecision-making on issues affecting their children’s education.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of parent participation inschool decision-making



7. Community members andlocal organizations participatethrough mechanisms to involvethem in school management.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of school-community participation mechanisms, meetings, and otherdecision-making processes

Interviews and focus groups with parents,teachers, school administrators, communitymembers, and local organizations


8. Community resources areused to strengthen schools, student learning, and the support and protection of students.

SchoolClassroom

Documentary review of community resourcesprovided to schools

Interviews and focus groups with parents,teachers, school administrators, communitymembers, and local organizations


9. Schools are involved in familyand community life and activelywork to build the capacities ofand relationships with parentsand other community members.

SchoolCommunity

Interviews and focus groups with parents,teachers, school administrators, and community members

Documentary review of community capacityand relationship building activities (e.g., adultliteracy programmes run by the school, schoolparticipation in community events)

As with previous dimensions, attaining the above outcomes is expected to vary depending upon each school’ssituation, level of development, and limitations (human, material, and financial). Timing and progress towardsachieving these outcomes as well as the development of each KPA below needs to progress incrementally at arate suitable to each school or school cluster and be undertaken in a step-by-step, phased manner. Personsresponsible for assessing this dimension will need to identify what is appropriate considering the CFS situationin which they find themselves.


KPA 1. MECHANISMS FOR STUDENTS TO EXPRESS THEIR VIEWS ABOUT SCHOOL WORK ANDSCHOOL LIFE AND TO PARTICIPATE IN STUDENT AND SCHOOL ORGANIZATIONS

A CFS gives children the confidence to speak freely about the school and their life in it. It also provides opportunities for students to say if they believe that something is wrong or unfair and when they think that theschool needs to make changes, without fear of reprisals. They should have the opportunity to choose theirleaders. Helping students to believe in themselves is empowering and encourages them to stand up for theirrights. Children need to be encouraged to take responsibility for themselves and their community. Developinga sense of justice and awareness of rights can be taught by pointing out injustice and encouraging children touse moral reasoning and decision-making to make sense of it. It is possible to give children an increasing voicein the decision-making about rules, rights and discipline in the school, as they mature. Through making a valued contribution to organizing the way the school works, children find their school more attractive and friendly.43


Table 5.2 Components and Process Indicators for Assessing Mechanisms and Opportunities forStudent Expression




Component 1: Students Expressing Their Views

1. The school promotes students interacting with others following democraticmethods (i.e., mutual respect, cooperation, and using reasonto solve problems). (Thailand)

SchoolChild

Documentary review of class meetings, student council meetings, interest club activities, student organizations

Interviews and focus groups with students,teachers, and school administrators


43 World Health Organization. “Child-Friendly Schools Checklist.” Cluster of Mental Health and Social Change, Geneva. 1999.

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2. The school provides opportunities for students tojoin in expressing their viewsregarding activities and life inthe school. (Thailand)

SchoolChild

Documentary review of class meetings, student council meetings, interest club activities, student organizations, schoolassessments, plans, and policies



3. The school has mechanisms– such as a school newsletter or publication, a student bulletin board, an opinion box, or polling assessment – for students to express their opinions and concerns aboutimportant school and community issues. (China,Philippines)

SchoolChild

Documentary review of mechanisms for student expression of opinions about schooland community issues

Interviews and focus groups with students,teachers, parents, school administrators, andcommunity members


Component 2: Student Involvement in Decision-Making

4. The school involves students in meetings and planning sessions that concerntheir well-being. (Philippines)

SchoolChild

Documentary review of class meetings, student council meetings, student organizations, school assessments, plans, and policies



5. Students take part in decidingon the rules of the school. (WHO PSE)

SchoolChild

Documentary review of class meetings, student council meetings, student organizations, etc.



6. The school actively involvesstudents in decisions about how the school is organized.(WHO PSE)

SchoolChild

Documentary review of class meetings, student council meetings, interest club activities, student organizations, schoolassessments, plans, and policies






Component 3: Opportunities for Participation in Student Organizations

7. The school has a working student government (council).(Philippines)

SchoolChild

Documentary review of class meetings, student council meetings and activities,school assessments, plans and policies



8. All children are given theopportunity to be members of the student government,organized interest groups, and student clubs.

SchoolChild

Documentary review of student organizations



9. All children are given an equal opportunity to be members of organized groupsand processes working toadvance the rights of children.(NGO Advisory Panel for theInternational Study on Violence Against Children)

SchoolChild




10. All children are given an equal opportunity in themanagement and leadership of school clubs, teams, andassociations.

SchoolChild




KPA 2. MECHANISMS FOR BUILDING SCHOOL-PARENT PARTNERSHIPS FOR SCHOOL POLICY-MAKING AND MANAGEMENT, STUDENT DEVELOPMENT, AND PROTECTION

A school is child-friendly when it is family-friendly. Implicitly through the relations it builds with parents, andexplicitly through the signs and rules it posts, the CFS must make it clear that parents are welcome. Parentshave both a right and a responsibility to be there. Indeed, the school needs families to be there because of thetremendous influence they have over the protection and well-being of their children at every stage of theirdevelopment, including whether and under what conditions these children go to school. It is the family thatmost influences children at each point in their life cycles. An informed and caring family can be the most stable, reliable, and unconditionally supportive agent for facilitating this learning. Families reflect the mostbasic values, assets and stresses of their society. This is why interventions to engage and facilitate families inpromoting and strengthening children’s learning can be among the most effective and lasting, and it is why theCFS recognizes families as its most important partners. A CFS needs the support of families who are able toprovide children the physical, emotional and intellectual care which are the basis for success in school. It needsfamilies who openly value their children’s education, as proven by the time, energy and sustained attentionthey give to it. This is particularly critical in the context of families that poverty, disease, communal conflict, orabusive members have made vulnerable; and those in isolated communities which limited government services do not reach or which ethnic marginalization exclude. Where there is no contact between home andschool, problems and major changes in the child’s life may go unrecognized by the school and so cannot beproperly addressed. Even in underprivileged families, high levels of parental support and a positive schoolclimate foster the development of good self-confidence and self-esteem.44

Contact between home, school, and classroom promotes good teaching. Teachers are better able to understand the child and tailor their teaching to the child’s needs if they are aware of his or her background. Inparticular, they are less likely to undermine traditions and values that the child learns at home in a way thatcould lead to contradictions and unhappiness. But teachers at all levels must be approachable, if parents are tofeel welcome at school. Parents who feel positive about school and involved in its life, are likely to be the bestadvocates for the school’s values, policies and practices at home, whether encouraging homework, promotinganti-harassment, or supporting cooperation with others.


Table 5.3 Components and Process Indicators for Assessing Mechanisms for Building School-Parent Partnerships

UNICEF 108



Component 1: Parents are Partners in Decision-Making

1. The school has a Parent-Teacher Association(PTA) or a Parent-Teacher-Community Association (PTCA) that has elected leaders,meets regularly, and has a written plan of action.(Philippines)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of meetings, plans and activities

Focus groups and interviews with parents,teachers, and school administrators


44 World Health Organization. “Child-Friendly Schools Checklist.” Cluster of Mental Health and Social Change, Geneva. 1999.




2. The PTA/PTCA plan of action coordinates with school authorities in developing, implementing,monitoring, and assessingannual school plans. (Viet Nam)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of PTA meetings, plans, and activities



3. The school promotes parentalparticipation in discussions and decision-making regardingpolicies and activities of theschool. (Thailand, Philippines)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of PTA and school committee meeting reports, reports of individual meetings with parents, etc.



4. The school provides understandable, accessible, and well-publicized processesfor influencing decisions, raising issues or concerns, appealing decisions, and resolving problems. (U.S.National PTA’s NationalStandards for Parent/FamilyInvolvement Programmes)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of school policies andprocesses, notifications, newsletters, lettersto parents



5. The school includes parentson all decision-making and advisory committees andensures adequate training forsuch areas as policy, curriculum,budget, school reforminitiatives, safety and personnel.(U.S. National PTA)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of PTA and school committee meetings, advisory committeemeetings, records of training for parents


Survey questionnaire

Component 2: Communication Between School and Parents

6. The school disseminatesinformation on school reforms,policies, disciplinary procedures,assessment tools, and schoolgoals. (U.S. National PTA)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of written disseminationcommunications with parents, notifications,newsletters, letters to parents, email messages, formal and informal events with parent participation



UNICEF 110



7. The school regularly sendsnews of school activities to parents and School Committeemembers. (Thailand)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of written dissemination communications with parents, notifications, newsletters, letters to parents, email messages, formal and informal events with parent participation



8. Parents feel able to go to the school to ask questions or discuss worries they haveabout their child. (WHO PSE)

SchoolCommunity



9. There are regular opportunities for parents toinform the teacher and otherappropriate authorities aboutwhat is happening at home andin the community. (WHO PSE)

SchoolCommunity



10. The school provides staff development regardingeffective communication techniques and the importanceof regular two-way communication between theschool and the family. (U.S. National PTA)

School Documentary review of records of trainingand staff development activities for teachers

Focus groups and interviews with teachers,and school administrators


11. The school arranges for oral transmission or translationof communications to assist parents who are illiterate or who are not speakers of themajority language. (U.S.National PTA)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of translations of communications with parents

Focus groups and interviews with teachers,and school administrators


12. Schools reach out to communicate with and assist all families, not just those whoattend parent meetings. (U.S.National PTA)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of communications withparents






Component 3: Involving Parents in Supporting Children’s Learning, Development, and Protection

13. Parents are encouraged andassisted by the school to helptheir children consolidate theirlearning at home. (WHO PSE)


Documentary review of communications,meetings, and conferences with parents



14. Parents are involved in discussions and decisions about what and how studentsare taught at school in relationto the standards of content andmethods stipulated by an education system as a whole.(WHO PSE)


Documentary review of communications,meetings, and conferences with parents



15. Schools conduct conferences with parents at least twice a year, withfollow-up as needed. Theseshould accommodate the varied schedules of parents, language barriers, and the needfor childcare. (U.S. National PTA)


Documentary review of conferences with parents and follow-up



16. Schools communicate with parents regarding positive student behaviour and achievement, not justregarding misbehaviour or failure. (U.S. National PTA)


Documentary review of communication with parents

Focus groups and interviews with parentsand teachers


17. Teachers regularly assigninteractive homework that will require students to discuss and interact with their parents about what they are learning in class. (U.S. National PTA)


Documentary review of homework assignments

Focus groups and interviews with students, parents, and teachers


18. Parents receive informationfrom the school about their children’s attendance andachievement.


Documentary review of notifications and report cards

Focus groups and interviews with students, parents, and teachers


KPA 3. MECHANISMS FOR BUILDING SCHOOL-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS FOR SCHOOL MANAGEMENT AND SUPPORT, STUDENT PROTECTION, AND COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT

Schools can do their job better when they are an integral and positive part of the community. Learning is neither limited to what is formally taught nor to time spent in classrooms. It occurs whenever and wherever thelearner interacts with the surrounding environment. All facets of the community (not just the school) providelearning opportunities. Anyone in the community who wants to facilitate learning might be a contributingteacher. This includes aides, volunteers, parents, siblings, peers, mentors in the community, librarians, recreation staff, secondary school and college students, etc. They all constitute what can be called the teachingcommunity. When a school successfully joins with its surrounding community, everyone has the opportunityto learn and to teach.

CFS also cooperate on a regular and serious basis with other agencies involved with the well-being and/or careand management of a community’s children. Typically, the most immediate of these are the health and socialwelfare agencies. Cooperation with these agencies, and the families they support, is especially key to allowingschools with limited resources to maintain their child-friendly capacity by undertaking actions that complement, reinforce, and add value to each other. Few schools are likely to have the resources to do everything at once toward improving their physical and pedagogical environments. Partnerships allow them toshare the task of setting priorities and delivering services with the wider ‘stakeholder’ community.

Another key facet of community involvement is opening up schools as places where parents, families, andother community residents can engage in learning, recreation, and enrichment, and find services they need.For schools to be seen as an integral part of the community, outreach steps must be taken to create and maintain linkages and collaborations. The intent is to maximize mutual benefits, including better studentprogress, an enhanced sense of community, community development, and more. In the long run, the aims areto strengthen students, schools, families, and communities. Over time, this area can include programmesdesigned to: (a) recruit a wide range of community involvement and support, (b) train, screen, and maintainvolunteers, (c) reach out to students and their families that do not come to school regularly – including truantsand dropouts, (d) coordinate school and community efforts to promote child and youth development to encourage children to adopt healthy behaviours, and (e) enhance community-school connections and sense ofcommunity.


UNICEF 112



19. Parents inform the schoolabout any major changes in thechild’s home life so that help canbe provided, if needed. (WHO PSE)

Community Documentary review of student personal records

Focus groups and interviews with students,parents, teachers, and school administrators




Component 1: Mechanisms to Build School-Community Partnerships

1. The school has a written plan for capacity building related to enhancing school-community collaboration. (The Center for Mental Health in Schools,UCLA)

School Documentary review of school policies,plans and activities

Interviews and focus groups with parents, school administrators, and school-committee members

2. The school gives importance to parents and the school committee in school development.(Thailand)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of school-committeemeetings and activities

Interviews and focus groups with parents,school administrators, and school- committee members


3. The school regularly sends news of school activities to parents and school-committee members.(Thailand)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of notification of newsto school-committee members, minutes ofschool-committee meetings

Interviews and focus groups with parents,school-committee members, and schooladministrators


4. The school has a Parent-Teacher or Parent-Teacher-CommunityAssociation that has electedleaders, meets regularly andhas a written plan of action.(Philippines)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of PTCA meetings andactivities

Interviews and focus groups with parents,teachers, community members, and schooladministrators


5. The school involves localagencies and organizations in school self-assessments and improvement planning,implementation, and monitoring. (Viet Nam, Indonesia, China)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of meetings, schoolassessments, improvement plans, monitoring reports

Interviews and focus groups with teachers,school administrators, and community members



Table 5.4 Components and Process Indicators for Assessing the Building of School-CommunityPartnerships

UNICEF 114



6. The parents and communityparticipate in improving the school and community environment. (Indonesia)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of environmentalimprovements

Observations of environmental improvements

Interviews and focus groups with students,teachers, school administrators, and community members


7. The school supports students implementing activities to help their community. (Philippines,Thailand, China)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of student/school community service projects



Component 2: Mobilizing Community Resources to Support Learning and Child Protection

8. The school has links with community leaders, isresponsive to the needs of the community, and providesopportunities for exchangingideas with community membersto increase all children’s accessto school regardless of theirbackground or ability.

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of school-communitymeeting schedules and minutes, as well asthose of school-management committees

Interviews with community leaders, schooladministrators, teachers, and school-management committees.

9. The community helps the school to reach out to all children who have beenexcluded from school. (China)

Community Documentary review of minutes from community and school-community meetings, as well as documents supporting community education campaigns

Interviews with community leaders, school officials, and parents

10. The school coordinates with community institutions to identify children who are physically or sexually abused orare made to do hard physicallabour, for the purposes of identifying their special needsand for referral in emergency situations. (Philippines)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of school records, localsocial service agencies

Interviews and focus groups with students,teachers, school administrators, communitymembers, and community volunteers




11. Schools involve communitymembers in school volunteerprogrammes. (Indonesia, U.S.National PTA)


Documentary review of records of community volunteer activities

Interviews and focus groups with students, teachers, school administrators,community members, and volunteers


12. Community women andmen with special knowledge or skills are invited and welcomed into the class asresource persons. (Myanmar)

CommunityClassroom

Documentary review of student/school community service projects



13. Communities provideincreased material support forschools (money or in kind).(Indonesia)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of records of community material support and volunteer activities

Interviews and focus groups with school administrators, community members, and volunteers


14. The school develops partnerships with local businesses, civic servicegroups, CBOs, and NGOs to advance student learning and assist families. (U.S.National PTA)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of records of community support and volunteer activities

Interviews and focus groups with schooladministrators, community members, andvolunteers


15. School health and nutrition programmes areplanned and implementedthrough partnerships and collaboration between healthand education workers, teacher, parents, students, and members of the community.(FRESH, Philippines)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review of school and health station records

Interviews and focus groups with students,teachers, parents, school administrators,health workers, and community members


16. The school coordinates withcommunity leaders and localauthorities to ensure the safetyand protection of students.(Philippines)

SchoolCommunity

Documentary review




14

APPENDIX A: EXAMPLES OF CFS ASSESSMENT TOOLS

The following are selected portions of country assessment tools for China, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vanuatu.

CHINA

NOTES TO THE HEAD TEACHERS

The checklist includes 66 indicators. Head teachers can use the checklist for self-monitoring and evaluation.

CHILD DEVELOPMENT

1. The enrolment rate in the school catchment area is over 98%.2. The retention and graduation rates are over 95%.3. The dropout rate declines significantly.4. No student repeats in any grade.5. Children with special needs get equal and appropriate treatment.6. There is no form of discrimination against any student because of gender, culture,

social status, religion, economic situation, etc.7. No student is classified as backward or poor.8. Very few cases exist of students skipping class.9. Over 90% of students report that they are happy in school.10. No student has to transfer to another school due to personal relationship problems

with any teacher.11. Students behave appropriately in and outside of school.12. Students have medical check-ups every year and have their own medical records.13. Students with physical or psychological problems are given attention and help

in school.14. Student achievement continually improves.15. There is no difference in terms of access and achievement between boys and girls.16. No bullying on campus.

Note: If your school’s score under this section is lower than 10, this means your school has some problems inthis area. A lot of attention, inputs, and efforts will be needed to improve your school’s situation.

SCHOOL CAMPUS

1. There are facilities in classrooms and on the campus to demonstrate the achievements of the school, teachers, and students.

2. There are enough desks, chairs, and classrooms.3. Reasonable layout of campus with facilities for students to play. 4. Enough learning and living facilities for students.5. Regular maintenance of school building and facilities.6. Clean, separate toilets for boys and girls.7. Clean and reliable drinking water for students.8. Clean, tidy, and safe campus.9. School processes/disposes of garbage appropriately.


10. No other disturbing places within 250 metres of the school campus.11. Every student has a set of textbooks.

Note: If your school’s score under this part is lower than 6, this means your school has some problems in thisarea. A lot of attention, inputs, and efforts will be needed to improve your school’s situation.

STAFFING

1. All teachers are qualified.2. All teachers know the CRC and observe its provisions.3. All teachers enjoy equal training opportunities and a cadre of well-trained teachers

exists in each school.4. Every teacher’s record is appropriately established and updated.5. Every teacher has at least one training each year to learn new teaching methods.6. Every teacher has an individual professional development plan.7. Teachers have relevant reference materials that are updated regularly.8. Teachers participate in educational studies to improve their research capacity.9. Teachers exchange their teaching experiences regularly.10. Teachers have the capacity and chance to take part in the development of school-based

curriculum.11. All teachers prepare class teaching/lesson plans appropriately and also review

students’ exercises in a timely way.12. Teachers try to use child-centred teaching methods.13. Teachers are capable of using modern teaching facilities and technologies to promote

the students’ learning enthusiasm.14. Teachers do not use corporal punishment or other forms of punishment on students. 15. Teachers do not assign too much homework.16. Teachers review and evaluate students learning achievements regularly, but they

do not evaluate students only using test scores.17. Teachers give equal chances to boys and girls in showing their progress and

achievements.18. Teachers have appropriate work and living facilities.19. Teachers enjoy annual medical check-ups.20. Teachers get support and attention whenever they have difficulties in teaching and

daily life.


SCHOOL MANAGEMENT

1. The school has a medium- and long-term development plan based on the CFS concept, and it also takes practical measures to accomplish this plan.

2. The school revises its regulations according to the standards of CFS.3. The school has a record of all school-age children in its service area.4. The school has clear and well-developed regulations.5. The school has systematic professional development plans for teachers.6. The school has a complete teacher evaluation system that is in line with the concept

of CFS. 7. The school has complete and updated records for students and teachers.8. The school checks student attendance regularly and takes measures to address absenteeism.9. The school does not close without appropriate reasons.10. The school has a strong training programme, and teachers exchange their work

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experiences regularly.11. Good cooperation and exchange exists among schools.12. A sound school-family-community network exists. 13. Teachers and students have opportunities and appropriate channels to participate

in school management, education and research, and school development planning.


COMMUNITY RELATIONS

1. There is a parent association established by the school and the association functions well.

2. There is frequent communication between school and parents on student learning and physical/psychological development.

3. The school can rely on support and resources from the community.4. The school consults the community fully in making school development plans and

relevant policies, as well as in organizing various activities.5. The school is supportive of teachers and students involvement in community activities.6. The school assists the community in getting all children in school.



MYANMAR

SCHOOL POLICIES

Do teachers ever punish students physically (use corporal punishment)? Yes NoDoes this school have a flexible school calendar or change school hours seasonally? Yes NoWhat percentage of children with disabilities are integrated into this school?

OrAre children with disabilities encouraged to enrol in this school? Yes NoAre students from poor families exempted from various school fees? Yes No

TEACHING/LEARNING PROCESS

Is there a classroom learning corner? Yes NoAre pictures or storybooks with illustrations written and/or drawn by students available in a classroom ‘learning corner’ for use by students? Yes NoAre students’ compositions and art works displayed on the walls? Yes NoAre students’ compositions on the walls changed every three weeks? Yes NoAre classroom seating arrangements and furniture conducive for group work? Yes NoWhat percentage of lessons are taught using class discussions, role plays, group work and activity-based lessons?What percentage of students ask questions and give opinions in class?

SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

Does the school have safe drinking water available? Yes NoDoes the school have one sanitary latrine for use by every 50 students with water available to wash hands? Yes NoDoes the school have two receptacles for rubbish on its grounds? Yes NoIs there any experience of verbal abuse or bullying by students? Yes No

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Does the school have four PTA activities per year with active participation by parents? Yes NoAre there three pre-arranged meetings for parents per year? Yes NoDo parents come once a month to school to discuss their children’s progress? Yes NoDo community ‘experts’ come to school to share their knowledge andexperiences at least four times a year? Yes NoAre there community-built playgrounds made from local materials? Yes NoAre out-of-school children identified through community-based information systems and have they returned to school? Yes NoIs there a school improvement plan developed with parent and community inputs? Yes No

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PHILIPPINES

ENCOURAGE CHILDREN’S PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY

What your school should have or should be doing:

q Your school has a working student government.q Your school involves students in meetings and planning sessions that concern their

well-being.q Your school encourages its students to get involved in community work.q Your school has a mechanism or mechanisms – such as a school publication,

students’ bulletin board, opinion box, or a polling mechanism – for students to express their opinions and concerns about important school and community issues.

GUARANTEE SAFE AND PROTECTIVE SPACES FOR CHILDREN


q Your classrooms have proper ventilation and lighting and enough space for 45-50 students each.

q Your classroom desks and other furniture are sized to the age of the students. In the case of shared desks, each student has enough space to work seated.

q Your classrooms’ layout and furniture allow students to interact and do group work.q Your classrooms have a bulletin board or a corner that displays helpful learning

materials such as posters, illustrations, newspaper and magazine clippings, and your students’ own works.

q Your classrooms, facilities, and premises are regularly maintained and kept clean.q Your school has a library for reading and for study.q Your school has facilities and equipment for recreation and sports.q Your school has sufficient lawn space and vegetation.q Your school has duly assigned personnel in charge of securing its premises, its

properties, and those of its students and teachers.q Your school coordinates with community and local authorities to ensure the safety

and protection of your students.q Your school has a policy against discrimination with regard to gender, cultural origin,

social status, religious belief, and others.q Your school has a programme for children with special needs.q Your teachers use non-threatening styles of discipline.

ENCOURAGE ENROLMENT AND COMPLETION


q Your school has a master list of all school-age children in the community, whether enrolled or not.

q Your school regularly coordinates with the local community council to identify school-age children who are out of school, for the purpose of bringing them to school.

q Your school conducts campaigns to encourage parents to enrol their children.q Your school has a system to regularly check on the attendance of its students

and address problems concerning non-attendance.


ENSURE CHILDREN’S HIGH ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND SUCCESS


q Your school has a clear vision/mission statement that is prominently displayed and adequately explained to all school personnel.

q The principal and teachers are familiar with child-centred and child-friendly principles.q Your school provides each student a complete set of textbooks.q Teachers regularly prepare their lesson plans.q Your school encourages and promotes cooperative and ‘hands-on’ learning (‘learning

by doing’).q The principal has data on the school’s past three-year performance in the division,

regional, or national tests for the purpose of improving its current year’s performance.q Teachers regularly monitor and assess their students’ academic performance, with the

view of improving their performance.

MOBILIZE COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION


q Your school has a Parent-Teacher-Community Association (PTCA) that has elected leaders, meets regularly, and has a written plan of action.

q Your school coordinates with community institutions to identify children who are physically or sexually abused or are made to do hard physical labour, for the purpose of identifying their special needs.

q Your school coordinates with the community and local institutions to enrol illiterate parents in literacy programmes.

q Your school takes the lead in conducting literacy programmes for illiterate parents.q Your school enlists the support of community organizations to help raise funds

and resources for learning.q Your school invites parents to discuss with your teachers the learning experiences

and progress of their children.q Your school consults parents in the drafting of its policies, and in the planning

and implementation of school activities.

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THAILAND

The 23 external criteria for assessing the child-friendliness of primary schools in Thailand can be grouped asfollows. Locally specific, internal criteria are also generated by schools, parents, children, and community leaders to fit each school’s situation.

PROVIDE POSITIVE EXPERIENCES FOR ALL CHILDREN AND PROMOTE THEIR PSYCHOSOCIALWELL-BEING, SELF-ESTEEM, AND SELF-CONFIDENCE

1. Students learn by working cooperatively in groups and by authentic, hands-on practice.2. All students participate in school activities according to their interests.3. Students learn with happiness and without emphasizing competition (e.g.,

opportunities for music, arts, drama).4. There is no bullying in the school.5. There is no corporal punishment in the school.6. Teachers and students care for and help students with problems or distress.7. The school coordinates with pre-school centres for continuity of development.

PROMOTE EQUALITY, RESPECT, NON-DISCRIMINATION, AND INCLUSIVENESS FOR ALL CHILDREN

8. The school does not publicly rank students by performance results.9. The school provides all students with equal opportunities without bias.10. The school has measures for helping children with special needs for protection

(e.g., orphans, children with disabilities, children from poor families).

PROVIDE EDUCATION BASED ON THE REALITY OF CHILDREN’S LIVES

11. The school develops students’ respect for their parents and for preservation of their own local culture.

12. Students learn subject matter that can be utilized in real life in their locality.13. The school supports students implementing activities to help their community.14. The school provides guidance and advice on continued education and livelihoods.

PROMOTE EDUCATION, BEHAVIOUR, AND AN ENVIRONMENT REFLECTING GOOD HEALTH,NUTRITION, HYGIENE, AND SANITATION

15. The school promotes and supports the health of students and all persons in the school.16. The school is free of addictive substances, gambling, violence, and pornography.

HELP CHILDREN, PARENTS, AND TEACHERS ESTABLISH HARMONIOUS, COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS

17. The school gives importance to parents and the school committee in cooperation, and collaboration in thinking and school development.

18. The school regularly sends news of school activities to parents and school committee members.

19. Parents are interested in and support students learning at home.20. Teachers and parents of all students make an appointment each term to consult about

students’ behaviour and learning.


21. The school promotes students interacting with others following democratic methods (i.e., mutual respect, cooperation, and using reason to solve problems).

22. The school provides opportunities for students to join in expressing their views regarding activities and life in the school.

STRENGTHEN SCHOOL GOVERNANCE THROUGH A DECENTRALIZED, COMMUNITY-BASEDAPPROACH

23. The school promotes parents’ participation in discussions and decision-making regarding policies and activities of the school.

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APPENDIX B: CFS-RELATED ASSESSMENT TOOLS

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: THE SCHOOL PSYCHO-SOCIALENVIRONMENT (PSE) PROFILE QUESTIONNAIRE

Source: “Creating an Environment for Emotional and Social Well-Being: An Important Responsibility of aHealth-Promoting and Child-Friendly School.” WHO Information Series on School Health; Document 10,Geneva. http://www.who.int/entity/school_youth_health/ media/en/sch_childfriendly_03_v2.pdf

A positive school environment can promote healthy social and emotional development during the early yearsof life. The items and information contained in this PSE Profile were derived in large part from a systematicreview of evidence from more than 650 research articles in the international literature and the original Profilethat was reviewed by schools in 20 countries worldwide. You are invited to fill out the PSE Profile by answering questions about this school that are grouped into seven ‘quality areas’:

1. Providing a friendly, rewarding, and supportive atmosphere2. Supporting cooperation and active learning3. Forbidding physical punishment and violence4. Not tolerating bullying, harassment and discrimination5. Valuing the development of creative activities6. Connecting school and home life through involving parents7. Promoting equal opportunities and participation in decision-making

PLEASE BEGIN BY PROVIDING THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ABOUT YOURSELF:

What is your role at the school?____ manager ____ teacher ____ support staff ____ parent ____ other

What is your sex?____ male ____ female

INSTRUCTIONS

Please answer each question by circling ONE of the four possible answers. Choose the answer that you feelbest describes your school. Do not spend a lot of time thinking about the answer; usually your first reaction isthe best. There are no right or wrong answers; we just want to know what you think about your school. Pleasemake sure that you have answered all the questions.

QUALITY AREA 1. PROVIDING A FRIENDLY, REWARDING, AND SUPPORTIVE ATMOSPHERE.

1.1 The school is friendly and welcoming to visitors.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.2 Students are encouraged to welcome and assist newcomers to the school.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.3 The school has a policy on how to integrate new students into the school.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)


1.4 The school is seen as an appealing place to work by those who work there.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.5 Staff encourage the students to care for each other.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.6 Teachers support students who are in distress.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.7 There is a trusted person who the students know they can approach if they have a problem or need confidential advice.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.8 The school holds regular events where the achievements of students are publicly recognized and applauded.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.9 Feedback about a student’s work is accompanied by positive comments about achievements and suggestions for improvement.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.10 Teachers are confident that they will receive help and support from other staff when they need it.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.11 Teachers are treated in ways that develop and maintain their self-confidence.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.12 Staff behave in a purposeful and orderly manner.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

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1.13 Students are confident that they will get help and support when they need it.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.14 Staff have a strong sense of belonging to the school.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.15 Students have a strong sense of belonging to the school.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.16 Parents are interested in and supportive of the school and its governance.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.17 Staff are concerned about what happens to each other.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

1.18 Students are concerned about what happens to each other.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

Total score for Quality Area 1:Number of items answered: 18 if single-sex school; 24 if mixed schoolAverage score for Quality Area 1:

QUALITY AREA 2. SUPPORTING COOPERATION AND ACTIVE LEARNING.

2.1 There is a school policy (or documentation) on how to promote cooperative learning (e.g., using teaching methods that encourage the students to participate in class).How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

2.2 Students spend time working together to solve problems.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)


2.3 Students are encouraged to ask questions in the classroom.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

2.4 Teachers organize students for group activities so that they can work together.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

2.5 Teachers are seen to be cooperating with each other.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

2.6 The school discourages announcing the order of students in each class, based on their academic performance.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

2.7 Students work on projects for and with their local community.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

2.8 The students’ work is regularly put on display.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

Total score for Quality Area 2:Number of items answered: 8 if single-sex school; 10 if mixed schoolAverage score for Quality Area 2:

QUALITY AREA 3. FORBIDDING PHYSICAL PUNISHMENT AND VIOLENCE.

3.1 The school has a policy prohibiting physical punishment as an acceptable disciplinary procedure.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.2 The school has a policy promoting non-physical punishment as an acceptable disciplinary procedure.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.3 Teachers avoid using physical punishment to discipline children.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.4 Teachers are supported in the use of non-aggressive styles of discipline.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

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3.5 The school keeps records of disruptive incidents that occur during the day.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.6 The school has policies and procedures to help teachers deal fairly and consistently with aggression and violence.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.7 The school has policies (short- and long-term) about how to deal with the consequences of violent incidents.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.8 School policies for dealing with violence and aggression are enforced.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.9 Teachers have the opportunity to gain new knowledge and skills that help them to maintain a safe and secure school.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.10 Support is available for teachers who have been involved in violent or stressful incidents.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.11 The school has procedures to deal with students/school staff who have witnessed violence.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.12 The school discipline rules are clear to everyone.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.13 The school discipline rules are practical.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.14 Discipline is maintained well at the school.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.15 Students feel safe in school.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)


3.16 Teachers feel safe in school.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.17 Those in charge are seen as firm, fair and consistent.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.18 There is a procedure that allows all students to voice concerns about inappropriate or abusive behaviour.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.19 There is a procedure that allows parents to voice concerns about inappropriate or abusive behaviour.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

3.20 The school recognizes good behaviour practiced by students.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

Total score for Quality Area 3:Number of questions answered: 20 if single-sex school; 21 if mixed schoolAverage score for Quality Area 3:

QUALITY AREA 4. NOT TOLERATING BULLYING, HARASSMENT, AND DISCRIMINATION.

4.1 The school has a publicized policy that bullying will not be tolerated.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.2 The school has a publicized policy that harassment will not be tolerated.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.3 The school has publicized procedures on how staff should intervene if bullying arises.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.4 The school policies for dealing with bullying are enforced.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.5 The students know that the school disapproves of bullying in school, outside school, and while travelling to and from school.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

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4.6 The students know that they can seek help from named staff members if they are bullied.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.7 The school has a policy on how to deal with the victims of bullying.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.8 Female students are not subjected to sexual harassment at school.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.9 Female teachers are not subjected to sexual harassment at school.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.10 The school has a policy on how to deal with the victims of sexual harassment.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.11 There is a code of conduct about how the school expects students to behave.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.12 There is a code of conduct about acceptable behaviour between staff and students.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.13 The code of conduct is regularly updated.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.14 All policies and codes of conduct are displayed in the school for everyone to read.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.15 Staff have a policy about the best way to include ‘loners’ and those who are recognized as ‘different’ in school activities.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.16 The staff take active steps to prevent the exclusion of students by their peers.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

4.17 The school records and monitors injuries reported by students and staff.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)


4.18 The school has student advisors who have been trained to mediate when conflict occurs.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

Total score for Quality Area 4:Number of questions answered: 18Average score for Quality Area 4:

QUALITY AREA 5. VALUING THE DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVE ACTIVITIES.

5.1 There are regular times available for recreation and play throughout the school day.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

5.2 Responsible adults supervise play and recreation periods.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

5.3 There are sufficient supervisors to monitor activities in every part of the play area.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

5.4 There is a quiet place available during recreation times that can be used by students who do not wish to join in communal play.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

5.5 There is the opportunity for students to create their own imaginative games without involving adults.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

5.6 All students have opportunities to experience creative-learning experiences that are free from the stress of competition and examinations, e.g. music, art, drama.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

5.7 All students have opportunities to experience creative-learning experiences that involve reasonable, constructive competition.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

5.8 All students have opportunities to experience creative-learning experiences that provide rewards for effort as well as achievement.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

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5.9 All students are provided with opportunities to engage in physical activity as a recreational choice.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

5.10 There is a programme of activities outside the school hours that students can join.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

Total score for Quality Area 5:Number of questions answered: 10 if single-sex school; 12 if mixed schoolAverage score for Quality Area 5:

QUALITY AREA 6. CONNECTING SCHOOL AND HOME LIFE THROUGH INVOLVING PARENTS.

6.1 Parents are informed about policies and codes of conduct in the school.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

6.2 Parents are encouraged and assisted by the school to help their children consolidate their learning at home.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

6.3 Parents know that the school should be told about any major changes in the child’s home life so that help can be provided, if needed.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

6.4 The school invites parents to discuss the child’s work with the teachers.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

6.5 Parents feel welcome at the school.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

6.6 Parents have the opportunity to discuss the school’s policies and codes of conduct and to contribute to decision-making by the school.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

6.7 Parents know that the school actively promotes cooperation, inside and outsidethe classroom.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)


6.8 Parents feel able to go to the school to ask questions or discuss worries they have about their child.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

6.9 There are regular opportunities for parents to inform the teacher and other appropriate authorities about what is happening at home and in the community.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

6.10 There are opportunities for parents to be involved in activities linked to the school life and work, e.g., outings, fund-raising.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

6.11 Parents are involved in discussion and decisions about what students are taught at school.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

6.12 Parents are involved in discussion and decisions about how students are taught (i.e., teaching methods).How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

6.13 The school regularly communicates news to parents about the school and its activities.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

Total score for Quality Area 6:Number of questions answered: 13Average score for Quality Area 6:

QUALITY AREA 7. PROMOTING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES AND PARTICIPATION IN DECISION-MAKING.

7.1 Students have the opportunity to speak, and be listened to, in class.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

7.2 There is a procedure that enables all students to openly express their feelings and thoughts about school work and school life.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

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7.3 The school actively involves students in decisions about how the school is organized.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

7.4 The materials and resources used by students are free from pejorative ethnic stereotypes.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

7.5 The materials and resources used by students are free from religious stereotypes.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

7.6 The materials and resources used by students are free from gender stereotypes.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

7.7 Students take part in activities that help them to recognize, understand and value differences between them (e.g., cultural, religious and social).How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

7.8 Students who are ‘different’ in any way are treated with respect and equality.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

7.9 No students in the school are excluded from the possibility of being successful.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

7.10 Students take part in deciding the rules of the school.How much is this like your school?For male students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)For female students:Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

WHERE APPROPRIATE:

7.11 Students who are working in their second language have opportunities during the school day to speak in their first language.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

7.12 Girls and boys are treated as equals.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)


7.13 Girls and boys have the same opportunities to reach their potential.How much is this like your school?Not at all (1) A little (2) Quite a lot (3) Very much (4)

Total score for Quality Area 7:Number of questions answered: 10 or 11 if single-sex school; 15 or 16 if mixed schoolAverage score for Quality Area 7:

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UNESCO AND UNICEF: CHECKLIST FOR NUTRITION AND HEALTH SERVICESAND FACILITIES

This checklist is designed to determine if school health and nutrition services are adequate. It is adapted from:(1) UNESCO. FRESH: A Comprehensive School Health Approach to Achieve EFA. Paris, 2002 (ED-2002/WS/8Rev.), and (2) UNICEF and the International Water and Sanitation Centre. A Manual on School Sanitation andHygiene. Water, Environment and Sanitation Technical Guidelines Series – No. 5. New York, 1998.

DOES THE SCHOOL PROVIDE SERVICES THAT INCLUDE: (CHECK IF YES)

the establishment and maintenance of student health and dental records;

height/weight screening to identify malnourished children;

detection and treatment of micronutrient deficiencies (such as vitamin A, iron and iodine) that affect child learning;

feeding programmes, such as healthy meals or snacks;

detection and treatment of parasitic infections that cause disease and malnutrition;

screening and remediation for vision and hearing deficits;

basic first aid training;

physical education, sport, and recreation classes;

youth-friendly outreach or on-site services by specially trained staff for the prevention, testing, treatment, and psychosocial support or counselling for HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, substance abuse, sexual abuse, etc.;

establishment and management of a system to make referrals to community-based providers of medical and mental health services that are not offered by schools;

links to welfare and social support mechanisms, especially for orphans;

prevention from unintended injury;

first aid and emergency response equipment;

surroundings that are comfortable and conducive to learning, play, and healthy interaction, and which reduce the risk of harassment or anti-social behaviour;

accommodations for students with disabilities;

adequate lighting within and outside the school;

prevention of exposure to hazardous materials?


DOES THE SCHOOL HAVE FACILITIES THAT PROVIDE: (CHECK IF YES)

an adequate and conveniently located water supply for safe drinking, handwashing, and latrine use;

regular monitoring and maintenance of all water supplies;

separate latrine facilities for girls and boys, as well as male and female teachers;

an adequate number of latrines that are readily accessible by all persons in the school;

the regular and effective use of water (with a scouring agent) for hand washing;

regular cleaning of latrine facilities and presence of cleaning materials;

sanitary drainage of wastewater;

the safe, efficient, and hygienic disposal of faeces;

waste (such as refuse and garbage) disposal and/or recycling mechanisms?

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APPENDIX C: SOURCES OF INDICATORS

[Australian] “National Safe Schools Framework.” Taskforce on Student Learning and Support Services,Melbourne, 2003. http://www.mceetya.edu.au/public/public.htm

Center for Mental Health in Schools, UCLA. A Resource Aid Packet on Addressing Barriers to Learning: A Setof Surveys to Map What a School Has and What it Needs, Los Angeles, 2001.

China. Checklist for Child-friendly schools Self-Monitoring and Evaluation. UNICEF East Asia and PacificRegional Office, Bangkok.

FRESH. Focusing Resources on Effective School Health. Core Framework for Action.http://www.freshschools.org

Indonesia. CLCC Programme presentation given at the UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Workshop onChild-Friendly Schools, 10-12 February 2004, Yangon, Myanmar.

Myanmar. Child-Friendly School Criteria. UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, Bangkok.

Philippines. Is Your School Child-Friendly? A Self-Assessment Guide. Department of Education and UNICEF,Manila.

Sri Lanka. Workshop to identify an integrated STS/CEMIS strategy. 28-29 July 2004. Save the Children in SriLanka. (Mission report by George A. Attig)

Thailand. External Criteria of School Child-Friendliness. School Self-Assessment: Participatory Learning andAction for Child-friendly Schools. Making Schools More Child-Friendly: Lessons from Thailand. UN RegionalTaskforce of the Youth, Bangkok, 2001.

UNESCO. Embracing Diversity: Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments. UNESCO Asiaand Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, Bangkok, Thailand, 2004.

UNICEF. Teachers Talking About Learning (TTL). http://www.unicef.org/teachers

UNICEF. East Asia and Pacific Regional Workshop on Child-Friendly Schools, 10-12 February 2004, Yangon,Myanmar.

U.S. National PTA: National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs. U.S. National PTA,http://www.pta.org/parentinvolvement/standards/index.asp

Vanuatu. CFS checklist. UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, Bangkok.

Violence Againt Children. Outcomes Projections and Potentials for the International Study on Violence AgainstChildren. NGO Advisory Panel for the International Study on Violence Against Children, 2004.


WHO PSE (Psycho-Social Environment Profile) in “Creating an Environment for Emotional and Social Well-Being: An Important Responsibility of a Health-Promoting and Child-Friendly School.” WHO InformationSeries on School Health; Document 10, Geneva, 2003. http://www.who.int/entity/school_youth_health/ media/en/sch_childfriendly_03_v2.pdf

WHO PSE. “The Physical School Environment: An Essential Component of a Health-Promoting School.” WHOInformation Series on School Health; Document 2, Geneva, 2003. http://www.who.int/school_youth_health/ media/en/physical_sch_environment.pdf

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