Supervisor Practices in Reflective Supervision–Home Visiting (SuPRS–HV): Measure Manual

Although reflective supervision is a widely recommended implementation strategy to support the home visiting workforce, little research exists about its impact in home visiting or other contexts. This lack of research may be due, in part, to limitations in available measures. 

This project sought to develop and validate a measure of reflective supervision practices in home visiting to help fill this gap. The study team engaged individuals with technical and practice expertise to create a measure found to be feasible, acceptable, relevant, and reliable in the home visiting context. 

Large-scale testing of the SuPRS—HV—including factor analysis, descriptive statistics, and correlational analysis—helped highlight the measure’s potential for use in home visiting research and practice. Among the promising findings— 

• Large-scale testing identified 5 subscales: Responsiveness, Collaborative Capacity Building, Unconditional Positive Regard, Promoting Awareness of Self and Others, and Supportive. Eleven items document topics and content discussed during a reflective supervision session.
• The five subscales all showed adequate variability, (i.e., scores varied enough across sessions and supervisors), with Responsiveness and Unconditional Positive Regard having slightly higher averages.
• The study team found preliminary evidence of concurrent validity (i.e., agreement with a validated measure used at the same time).
• Supervisors reported positive experiences using the SuPRS—HV, suggesting the measure is feasible and relevant for the home visiting context. 

The research team developed the SuPRS—HV across four phases:

1. During the Conceptualize phase, the team developed and refined a list of key elements of reflective supervision. 

2. As part of the Operationalize phase, to address gaps in existing measures and produce a measure with desirable qualities, the team decided, in consultation with measurement experts the measure would assess a single supervision session, focus on specific behaviors and techniques, and function as a self-report for supervisors to complete. The researchers also developed preliminary items for measuring key elements of reflective supervision.

3. Activities conducted during the Preliminary Test phase included pilot testing (n = 41) and focus groups with supervisors to assess clarity, acceptability, and perceived value of the measure.

4. For the Large-Scale Test phase, the team surveyed 502 home visiting supervisors and conducted a repeated measures survey with a subsample of respondents (n = 39). 

The team actively engaged people with practical experience and expertise throughout each phase. Input came from home visiting model representatives, home visitors, supervisors, reflective supervision trainers, reflective supervision researchers, and measure developers, among others.

Sparr, M., Asdigian, N., Fisk, E., Bruning, J., Fulford, J., & West, A. (2025). Supervisor practices in reflective supervision—home visiting (SuPRS—HV): Measure manual, version 1 (OPRE Report No. 2025-126). Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation; Administration for Children and Families; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.