MEASURING REFLECTIVE SUPERVISION WITHIN HOME VISITING: CHANGES IN SUPERVISORS’ SELF‐PERCEPTION OVER TIME

Despite widespread belief in the early childhood field of the benefits of reflective supervision, there has been limited empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of reflective supervision for home visitors and the children and families they serve. The present study examined the psychometric properties of four adapted self‐report measures assessing supervisors’ reflective supervision capacities; the study also investigated whether these measures captured change in reflective capacity over time as supervisors participated in professional development activities focused on reflective supervision. Results from 33 participants (home visiting supervisors and program managers) suggested that three of the four measures demonstrated acceptable internal consistency, and these three measures were correlated with each other. Two of these measures also captured significant change over time. Finally, there was some evidence that those with less education demonstrated more substantial improvement in their reflective supervision capacities than did those with an advanced degree. Findings provide initial evidence for reliable, efficient, and cost‐effective supervisor self‐report measures that could be used in research and program evaluation to assess change in supervisor reflective capacity over time.     

Examining program quality in early childhood home visiting: From infrastructure to relationships

Although there are many examples of evidence-based early childhood home-visiting programming, the field itself struggles with modest outcomes and variable levels of program effectiveness. This article documents the experience of creating a statewide monitoring system to assess home-visiting program quality and compliance to identified standards, integrating multiple sources of information across different domains of functioning. Monitoring results from 57 programs are summarized, with variable but promising levels of quality. Programs generally report satisfaction and benefit from the process. In addition, the relationship between direct observations of home visits and home-visitor report of their approach to working with families is analyzed. Results suggest significant, albeit small, associations. Although there are trade-offs between comprehensiveness of information gathering and practical application, the use of monitoring findings to support home-visiting programs holds potential for quality improvement.     

Observing home-visit quality with the home visit rating scales: Introduction to the special section

Evidence-based home-visiting programs aim to address one of the most important challenges facing our species—setting the next generation on a healthy path of development that prepares them for a future that is simultaneously uncertain and promising. Diverse research literatures have pointed to practices to effectively meet this challenge and better achieve the unfulfilled promise of home visiting by more effectively engaging parents in supporting their children's early development and well-being. Measures of home-visit quality practices drawn from social work, pediatric nursing, early childhood, and early intervention research literatures have identified building relationships with families and focusing on their strengths as effective, practices that are particularly important for vulnerable families. The articles in this special section used the Home Visit Rating Scales to examine stability in home-visit quality over time, study specific home-visiting processes linked with quality, validate a supervisor checklist of home-visiting implementation, and consider the home visit in relation to an array of indicators reflecting overall home-visiting program strength and stability. These articles exemplify progress in home-visiting research over recent decades, including advances in direct observational methods and measurement as well as examinations of home visiting as an observable process across various home-visiting program models and populations.     

Observing home-visiting quality across time: A longitudinal reliability study of the Home Visit Rating Scales

Empirical examination of home-visiting quality over time is lacking in the research literature. To this end, this study examined the most recent edition of a widely used observational measure of home-visiting quality, the Home Visit Rating Scales (HOVRS), over four repeated assessments spanning an average of 6 months. Psychometric quality for the HOVRS Total and Home Visitor Practice Scales, including item ratings and calculated scores, across time was demonstrated. Stability indicators for the Family Engagement Scales varied, with superior reliability often indicated for individual ratings over the calculated score. The exploration of interrelationships among family demographics and change in HOVRS scores over time were largely insignificant. Interestingly, a decline in the Home Visitor Practice Scale significantly related to increased symptoms of maternal depression, possibly suggesting that home-visitors’ focus shifted from children's needs to those of parent s when mental health concerns were observed. Although this study is an examination of one program model and poses limited generalizability, it sets the stage for advancing the HOVRS and longitudinal measurement of home-visiting quality.