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Development, Validation, and Utility of an Instrument to Assess Core Competencies in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program

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Abstract

To describe the development and psychometric evaluation of the Core Competency Measure (CCM), an instrument designed to assess professional competencies as defined by the Maternal Child Health Bureau (MCHB) and targeted by Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) programs. The CCM is a 44-item self-report measure comprised of six subscales to assess clinical, interdisciplinary, family-centered/cultural, community, research, and advocacy/policy competencies. The CCM was developed in an iterative fashion through participatory action research, and then nine cohorts of LEND trainees (N = 144) from 14 different disciplines completed the CCM during the first week of the training program. A 6-factor confirmatory factor analysis model was fit to data from the 44 original items. After three items were removed, the model adequately fit the data (comparative fit indices = .93, root mean error of approximation = .06) with all factor loadings exceeding .55. The measure was determined to be quite reliable as adequate internal consistency and test–retest reliability were found for each subscale. The instrument’s construct validity was supported by expected differences in self-rated competencies among fellows representing various disciplines, and the convergent validity was supported by the pattern of inter-correlations between subscale scores. The CCM appears to be a reliable and valid measure of MCHB core competencies for our sample of LEND trainees. It provides an assessment of key training areas addressed by the LEND program. Although the measure was developed within only one LEND Program, with additional research it has the potential to serve as a standardized tool to evaluate the strengths and limitations of MCHB training, both within and between programs.

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Notes

  1. Because the MCHB has provided a conceptual framework to support the core competencies measured by the CCM, we felt that a confirmatory factor analysis would be more appropriate to conduct than an exploratory factor analysis.

  2. The anchor points were modified because the response category of ‘Strongly Disagree’ seemed to be a very unlikely choice that would be endorsed according to our stakeholder team.

  3. Although the CCM was developed in the context of our LEND Program we had the opportunity to present our assessment tool to LEND directors at two national meetings, and although programs varied across the country, we received strong feedback that the measure likely would be quite applicable to most programs. Further, several programs have recently asked for copies of the measure to begin using and/or adapting slightly to meet the needs of their programs.

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) # T73MC00051 to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Program.

Conflict of interest

The authors had no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 3535 Market Street, Room 1480, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Stephen S. Leff, Katherine B. Bevans & Nathan J. Blum

  2. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Stephen S. Leff & Katherine T. Baum

  3. Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Katherine T. Baum

  4. Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Stephen S. Leff, Katherine B. Bevans & Nathan J. Blum

  5. The Violence Prevention Initiative, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Stephen S. Leff & Katherine B. Bevans

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  1. Stephen S. Leff
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  2. Katherine T. Baum
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  4. Nathan J. Blum
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Correspondence to Stephen S. Leff.

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Leff, S.S., Baum, K.T., Bevans, K.B. et al. Development, Validation, and Utility of an Instrument to Assess Core Competencies in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program. Matern Child Health J 19, 314–323 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-014-1514-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-014-1514-z

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