Creation of a measure to assess knowledge of the individual placement and support model

This article describes the development and psychometric evaluation of the IPS-Q, a quiz assessing practitioner knowledge of the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model.

Using multiple resources, including the IPS Fidelity Scale and publications about the IPS model, a 30-item multiple-choice quiz covering fundamental IPS principles and key components was developed. Ratings by eight IPS experts supported its content validity. To examine the IPS-Q's psychometric properties, 107 practitioners from high-fidelity IPS programs and 59 practitioners from non-IPS vocational programs were administered the IPS-Q via a web-based survey tool.

The measure displayed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .89) and a difficulty level consistent with that of typical job knowledge tests. The IPS-Q did not correlate with demographic variables that were considered extraneous to knowledge of IPS and did correlate with self-reported supported employment familiarity. However, contrary to our hypothesis, the quiz was not significantly correlated with exposure to supported employment. The IPS-Q significantly discriminated between practitioners working in high-fidelity IPS programs and non-IPS vocational programs. Furthermore, supervisors from high-fidelity IPS programs scored significantly higher on the measure than vocational workers from high-fidelity IPS programs.

The IPS-Q is a valid measure of IPS knowledge and might prove useful for assessment, research, and training purposes. Practitioners sometimes assume that they understand a program model when in fact they have misconceptions. The IPS-Q provides an objective way to gauge practitioner knowledge.