Good Schools Study

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Educational Achievement
Mental Health
Sexual Violence
Physical Violence
Violence Against Children

Interventions: Behavioral: Good School Toolkit

Registration Number: NCT01678846

Lead Sponsor: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Brief Summary: The purpose of this study is to determine whether use of the Good Schools Toolkit is effective in reducing violence against children in primary schools.

Detailed Description: Violence against children has profound effects on both children's health and their ability to do well at school. Fear, anxiety and injuries caused by violence may play a large role in both children's absenteeism and low educational achievement, and there is increasing interest from large bilateral donors in investigating this link in low income countries. The Good School Toolkit has been developed and refined for 6 years in Uganda by Raising Voices. The toolkit takes a systemic approach, involving an entire school in a process of change to reduce violence and improve teaching techniques. The Toolkit draws on the Transtheoretical Model and incorporates standard behaviour change techniques such as setting a goal and making an action plan, which are effective in modifying behaviour. This study aims to determine whether use of the Good School Toolkit reduces children's experience of violence by school staff. The investigators will also examine the effects of the Toolkit on children's educational outcomes, mental health and well-being.

The investigators will conduct a cluster randomised controlled trial in 40 primary schools in Luwero District, Uganda. More than 3500 children in Primary 5, 6 and 7 will be surveyed (aged about 11-16 years). Half of the schools will receive the Toolkit, and other half will be put on a waiting list to receive the Toolkit at the end of the study. The results from this evaluation will be used to brief policy-makers within the Ministry of Education and Sports involved in developing country-wide policy and practice around violence against children in schools.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 3820

Inclusion Criteria

Schools
- in Luwero District, Uganda
- more than 40 students registered in Primary 5
- Participants
  - registered as a Primary 5, 6 or 7 pupil
  - any school staff member

Exclusion Criteria

Schools

-- existing program related to prevention of violence against children or school governance
- Participants -- not able to understand consent and study procedures

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Good School Toolkit	Good School Toolkit	Schools in the intervention arm will receive the Good Schools Toolkit materials and implementation support.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Physical Violence From School Staff	2-year follow-up	past week experience of any physical violence from school staff

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Child Mental Health	2-year follow-up	score on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ): 20 questions. Total difficulties score, divided by the number of completed items. Modelled as a continuous variable. Range 0 (no difficulties) to 2 (high difficulties).
Educational Achievement: Word Recognition in English	2-year follow-up	Word recognition in English(words per minute). Early Grade Reading Assessment, Uganda version. Calculated as number of words read correctly (out of a maximum of 50), divided by the time (out of a maximum of 60 seconds).
Safety and Well-being at School	At 2 year follow-up	Five questions. Each question asked with response options: all the time, most of the time, sometimes, never: I feel that my teachers care about me. I feel safe in school. I feel like I belong at school. I like to spend time at school. I am scared of my teachers (reverse coded). Scores summed, modelled as a continuous variable. Range 0 (low) to 15 (high). Higher score is better safety and well-being at school.