Research design case · 2025

Evaluating Psychological Support and School Counselling

A multi-stakeholder study and instrument design for UNRWA schools in Syria

A mixed-method framework designed to examine access to psychological support and school counselling and understand the experiences of students, families, schools and service providers. The work remained at the design and instrument-development stage, so this page reports no findings or impact claims.

Professional contribution: study design, instrument development and collaborative reviewDesign stage only · Syria · 2025
Explore the design and instrumentsPrivacy-safe professional summary; original institutional files are not downloadable

Work summary

Presentation reviewed:

Work type
Collaborative research design
Status
Design and instruments; no data collection
Date and scope
April–July 2025
Tareq’s role
Contributing to study design, instrument development and team review
Outputs
Tools for four stakeholder groups and a briefing note
Evidence scope
No realised sample or field findings

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Design question
How can school counselling and psychological support be assessed through connected perspectives while protecting children and institutional data?

Design scope

4stakeholder groups
5–9target grades
2quantitative and qualitative strands
Designwork stage

Documented contribution

A technical role in study design and instrument development within a collaborative process.

01

Study design

Framing the problem, objectives, evaluation questions, mixed methodology, target groups and an initial work plan.

02

Instrument development

Preparing successive questionnaire drafts and reviewing them before consolidation into a multi-stakeholder package.

03

Technical coordination

Preparing a briefing note to clarify roles, ethics, data protection, intellectual property and dissemination requirements.

04

Training content

An official team contribution to developing and reviewing materials related to school counsellor roles, counselling and psychosocial support.

Instrument system

Four perspectives designed to reveal the gap between service availability and lived experience.

01

Students

Safety and school climate, access to support, service experience and school participation.

02

Parents and guardians

Awareness of services, communication with the school, observed change and family needs.

03

School principals

Service availability, coordination, referral, institutional support and training needs.

04

Counsellors and support providers

Workload, service reach, patterns of need, perceived effectiveness and professional support.

Proposed study logic

Placing measurement in context before reaching a judgement on effectiveness.

01

Define the scope

Specify the service, groups, schools and assessment period.

02

Use multiple forms of evidence

Combine surveys with open questions and proposed interviews or focus groups.

03

Compare perspectives

Read student, family, school and provider experience within one framework.

04

Interpret responsibly

Separate availability, satisfaction and observed change from proof of causal impact.

An example of the approach

Connecting an evaluation question to a decision

An illustrative example composed for this page from the design themes; not an original institutional questionnaire item or an approved instrument.

Connecting an evaluation question to a decision
ElementIllustrative application
Evaluation questionDo students know how to access school support?
Proposed indicatorShare reporting that they know the support pathway; no value calculated at this stage
Proposed instrumentAn age-appropriate question and open follow-up, subject to ethical and methodological review
Decision it could informWhether the school needs to explain access to support more clearly
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Timeline

From the first draft to clarification of institutional conditions.

01

10 April 2025

Study design
Preparation of the study framework, methodology, target groups and initial instrument pathway.

02

22–24 April 2025

Questionnaire review
Collaborative development of revised tools for students, families, principals and support providers.

03

17 July 2025

Briefing note
Clarification of roles, ethics, confidentiality, data protection, intellectual property and dissemination before implementation.

04

Final status

Design not implemented
No data collection began, so there is no realised sample, dataset, result or published impact indicator.

Integrity and privacy

What this page shows and intentionally withholds.

  • The platform does not publish original institutional questionnaires, correspondence, colleague names, or school and student data.
  • The page does not attribute authorship of the School Counsellor Roles and Responsibilities presentation or the full training modules to Tareq.
  • The contribution is described as technical and collaborative design, development and review, not individual ownership of an institutional package.
  • UNRWA is named only as the historical project context; TAS does not represent or imply endorsement by the Agency.

Requirements before implementation

Clear safeguards before collecting any data from children or schools.

01

Approved roles and responsibilities

02

Ethics review and informed consent

03

Data-protection and confidentiality plan

04

Intellectual-property and dissemination terms

05

Approved sampling and administration procedures

06

Analysis and reporting plan

FROM IDEAS TO PRACTICE

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