WG/UNICEF Inclusive Education Module (IEM)

Since 2012 UNICEF and WG have been developing a set of questions on school participation and environmental factors affecting participation in school for ALL children. The intent is for the survey module to be used in conjunction with the Child Functioning Module to identify both facilitators and barriers to school participation in order to inform policies to improve full inclusion in education for children with disabilities.

The UNICEF/WG Inclusive Education Module (IEM) contains three main sections, each related to potential environmental barriers to education:

•   Parental Attitudes, including attitudes on inclusive education;

•   Accessibility, including to, and within, the physical school environment, access to information, communication, assistance and learning aids, and program accessibility; and

•   Affordability, including tuition fees, costs associated with school attendance, the availability of types of assistance, and non-educational benefits.

To-date cognitive testing of these three sections has been carried out in 5 countries (United States, India, Jamaica, Cambodia and Kazakhstan).

A separate section, which is still under development, addresses the out-of-school population and why a child might not be going to school. Additional cognitive testing of the out-of-school portion of the IEM is still pending and has been delayed due to the current COVID-19 situation.

While the module has not been finalized, the UNICEF/WG IEM can be used (excluding the out-of-school portion) provided it is referenced as a ‘pre-final’ version and provided that the researcher’s field experiences and analytic results using the IEM are shared with the WG so that the information can be added to the evidence-base regarding the usefulness and validity of the IEM as a data collection tool for inclusive education. UNICEF and the WG are preparing supporting documentation for the IEM. 

Please direct any questions regarding the UNICEF/WG IEM or its application to the WG Secretariat at WG_Secretariat@cdc.gov.