Use of Washington Group question sets by teachers to identify functional difficulty in schools in Sierra Leone

Effective disability inclusion in education requires that teachers and others in the education system have access to accurate and reliable information about children's disabilities. Washington Group (WG) tools are increasingly used in low- and middle-income countries, however, the feasibility and accuracy of such tools is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of using WG tools to assess functional difficulty (FD) in children in rural Sierra Leone and to examine the prevalence of FD.

Class teachers in eight schools completed an FD assessment for each child on their class register using either the WG Short Set (WG-SS) or Child Functioning Module-Teacher Version (CFM-TV). Teacher experiences with the tools were explored during focus group discussions. The prevalence of FD was explored using descriptive statistics.

Teachers found both tools broadly feasible, although there was some concern with the length and complexity of the CFM-TV. A total of 30 teachers used the WG-SS to assess 1346 children ages 5-17 y; 1.1% were reported to have FD. A total of 35 teachers used the CFM-TV to assess 1738 children; 14.9% were reported to have FD.

The use of WG tools by teachers is feasible for generating data on children's FD and potentially valuable for effective disability inclusion.