The Supervision Evaluation and Supervisory Competence Scale: Psychometric Validation

Abstract

Objectives:The last two decades has witnessed a strong endorsement of competency-based models for both practitioner training and professional supervision. The valid and reliable measurement of supervisee and supervisory competence is an essential step towards progress, yet currently there are few instruments that can claim to measure the range of supervisor competencies. The current study establishes the Supervision Evaluation and Supervisory Competence (SE-SC) scale as a new, psychometrically sound instrument. Method: A total of 142 supervisees anonymously completed overall evaluations of supervision satisfaction and supervisor effectiveness and of specific supervisor competencies using the SE-SC instrument. The specific competencies were subjected to a hierarchical cluster analyses to determine the underlying structure of supervisory competence. Results: The results supported a six-cluster solution that included (a) Openness, caring and support, (b) Supervisor's Knowledge and Expertise as Therapist, (c) Supervision Planning and Management, (d) Goal-Directed Supervision, (e) Restorative Competencies, and (f ) Insight into and Management of Therapist-Client Dynamics and Reflective Practitioner Competencies. The results yielded excellent internal reliability, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity for the six clusters, with high and meaningful correlations with subscales of the Supervisory Working Alliance Inventory (SWAI) and the Supervisory Styles Inventory (SSI). More importantly, the six clusters together better predicted overall scores on supervision satisfaction and effectiveness (85% of variance) than did subscales of the SWAI (56%) and the SSI (57%). Conclusion: The SE-SC demonstrates good psychometric properties and is a useful scale to measure a supervisee's evaluation of supervisory competence. What is already known on this topic1 Evaluation of supervision satisfaction and effectiveness by supervisees are important components of supervision evaluation. 2 Available measures of supervision evaluation do not adequately represent the range of supervisor competencies. 3 Supervisory working alliance is a strong predictor of supervision satisfaction. What this paper adds1 The development and psychometric validation of a new instrument, the Supervision Evaluation and Supervisory Competence (SE-SC) scale. 2 Innovative cluster analyses to reveal the underlying structure of supervisory competence into six independent clusters. 3 Evidence that competency clusters better predict supervision satisfaction and supervisor effectiveness than omnibus constructs such as supervisory alliance.The last two decades has witnessed the rise and rise of competency-based models for practitioner training across the range of health professions within Australia and internationally, and the effects of this substantive paradigm shift have inexorably filtered into professional supervision training and practice. In the words of Milne and Watkins (2014) "… there has perhaps never been a more sweeping and all-pervasive singular ch...

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