Plus: a standing-room-only conference presentation and other recent accomplishments at CEED
Study of reflective supervision and consultation is first to describe implementation trends
Alyssa Meuwissen, PhD, completed the final phase of a research project to find out how reflective consultation affected child welfare workers in Minnesota. Reflective consultation is a type of relationship-based professional development where a supervisor or consultant provides regular, ongoing support to frontline workers. This takes the form of one-on-one or group meetings that encourage workers to reflect on the emotions that come up for them in their jobs.
This project, which was funded by the Sauer Foundation, began by evaluating a reflective consultation program that was created for a county child welfare agency. Meuwissen created a report and podcast to share the results of this phase of the study. In phase two of the project, Meuwissen interviewed child welfare workers all over the state to find out about their experiences participating in reflective supervision or reflective consultation.
“One of my biggest questions for child welfare workers statewide was: ‘How are you doing reflective consultation?’” says Meuwissen. “Many studies have focused on the impact of reflective supervision or consultation on supervisees. It’s been established that it’s generally good for them, and they like it. But these studies haven’t asked questions like, how big is your group? How often do you meet? Do you meet on Zoom or in person? No one knows anything about the impact of these decisions.”
Meuwissen released a series of reports on the second phase of the project that delve into Minnesotan workers’ answers to these questions.
CEED’s work featured in Connect Magazine
CEHD Connect Magazine, the alumni magazine of the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), ran a feature article on the revised Early Childhood Indicators of Progress (ECIPs), Minnesota’s early learning standards. The Minnesota Department of Education tasked CEED with leading the revision. The article explores the importance of the ECIPs and the collaborative process that CEED created and implemented to guide the revision of the document.
Milenova achieves ECERS-3 anchor status
Margarita Milenova, PhD, Program Quality Specialist with the Center for Early Education and Development (CEED), was certified as an anchor for the Early Childhood Environment Ratings Scale Third Edition (ECERS-3) after four days of rigorous in-the-field testing at the Environment Rating Scales Institute (ERSI) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. ECERS-3 is an assessment tool used in early childhood classroom observations. In order to use the tool, classroom observers must complete an ECERS-3 training and pass a test with a score of 80% or greater. The test consists of completing a real-world classroom assessment with a guided facilitator. Milenova went a step beyond to achieve anchor status. She had to get a score of 90% or greater across three days of classroom assessments. As an anchor, Milenova can provide technical assistance to early childhood education programs, and she can do ECERS-3 dual assessments with other observers.
Data visualization presentation draws crowds at evaluation conference
Mary McEathron, PhD, Research Associate and Lead Evaluator, and Meredith Reese, Research Assistant, presented “Using Qualitative Data Visualizations to Promote Use and Change” to a standing-room-only crowd at the American Evaluation Association’s annual conference in October. “Evaluation” often refers to assessing the effectiveness of a program or initiative and determining if it is meeting its goals. Evaluators get information in different ways, including from surveys and interviews and even photos and videos. That type of information is known as qualitative data.
“A lot of times qualitative data just gets reported out in a paragraph, while quantitative data can be visualized with an attractive graph,” says Reese. Yet people in leadership roles need information at a glance to “let them learn from qualitative data and use it to make decisions and change.”
McEathron and Reese presented general principles and examples of visualizing qualitative data in a way that conveys the “richness and the nuance” that it offers, McEathron explains.
Public health professionals hear from Harrison, Meuwissen on safe, stable, nurturing relationships
Mary Harrison, PhD, LICSW, IMH-E, and Alyssa Meuwissen, PhD, participated in a panel discussion at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting in October. The session focused on “safe, stable, nurturing relationships,” or SSNRs. SSNRs are a component of a healthy environment that supports children’s growth and protects against the negative effects of childhood stressors and adversity. The panel responded to questions from an engaged audience on how families, early childhood professionals, policy makers, and others can promote SSNRs and hence, help young children thrive.
