Bug-in-Ear Coaching: Impacts on Early Childhood Educators' Practices and Associations With Toddlers' Expressive Communication

Many early childhood educators struggle to meet the communication needs of children with delays and disabilities. The purpose of this study was to examine the functional relation between bug-in-ear coaching and the frequency of educators' correct use of targeted communication strategies, as well as associations with children's expressive communication. Four multiple-baseline single-case intervention design experiments were completed. Dependent variables were educators' use of communication strategies and the expressive communication of children with delays or disabilities. Bug-in-ear improved educators' implementation of at least one communication strategy for each educator. Effect sizes were large for three educators and moderate for one. Each behavior successfully implemented during intervention was maintained at moderate levels or better, while behaviors implemented with greater variability during intervention were not maintained. Associations with children's expressive communication were questionable/small during both intervention and maintenance. Outcomes suggest that bug-in-ear is a socially valid practice that shows promise of effectiveness in inclusive early childhood environments. Implications and future directions are provided.