Project Activities
The research partners conducted a series of single-case design studies with 9 providers and 18 families of infants and toddlers with communication or motor-related disabilities to assess whether there was a functional relationship between the internal coaching intervention and changes in provider practices, families’ use of strategies, and child outcomes (i.e., functional abilities and communication).
Structured Abstract
Setting
The evaluation occurred in the homes of families of infants and toddlers with disabilities in rural communities in Iowa.
Sample
Three internal coaches, 9 Part C providers, and 18 families of an infant or toddler (ages 6-28 months) with a communication or motor delay participated in the research.
The professional development intervention for Part C providers includes online training materials on topics related to family guided practices and caregiver coaching, web-based video feedback, and monthly in-person sessions with the internal coach. Specifically, the intervention used the Family Guided Routines Based Intervention (FGRBI), a manualized intervention approach delivered through distance learning professional development. The distance learning approach uses technology supports to remotely coach providers to implement FGRBI through content-based workshops, monthly expert and peer coaching with performance-based feedback and reflection, monthly webinars on related content, and a community of practice to continue to support providers over time. The initial training was provided via web-based modules to introduce family-guided practices and caregiver coaching to the early intervention providers. The provider video recorded each session with the family. Next, the internal coach reviewed and provided feedback and reflective questions via an online video annotation platform (i.e., software in which participants can view a video and add notes at a particular moment in the video). The coach and provider met to discuss the sessions; problem solve; reflect upon the provider’s implementation needs, priorities of the family, and needs of the child; and jointly set goals for the provider’s work with the caregiver.
Research design and methods
The research partners conducted single-case design studies with each of the nine providers. The children and their families were randomly selected from a pool of eligible children. The baseline phase took place with providers and families before coaching was introduced to determine the providers’ use of the FGRBI Key Indicators (i.e., specific intervention practices). The primary dependent variable was the provider’s use of the FGRBI, and secondary dependent variables included child outcomes and parent-child interactions.
Control condition
Provider-family dyads served as their own controls during the baseline phase of the single-case design studies prior to any coaching.
Key measures
The proximal outcome measure included a checklist and scoring rubric to assess the percentage of FGRBI Key Indicators used by the provider. The FGRBI Key Indicators were developed to align with the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Early Childhood’s Recommended Practices. Additionally, Individual Family Service Plans developed by providers were reviewed for the number and type of family outcomes and use of family priorities when developing child outcome goals. In addition, the Embedded Instruction Observation System-Early Intervention was used to measure caregiver-child interactions during each session. The Child Outcome Summary process and an Individual Growth and Development Indicator (Early Communication Indicator) was used to measure child outcomes (functional abilities and expressive communication, respectively).
Data analytic strategy
The researchers used visual analysis to determine if there was a functional relationship between the internal coaching and provider practices, family strategy use, child-caregiver interactions, and child outcomes. This analysis included changes in level, trend, variability, immediacy (latency), and overlap between phases and between providers. Effect size was estimated using between-case standardized mean differences.
Key outcomes
The main findings of this study, as reported by the principal investigator, are as follows:
- Internal peer coaches who work for regional Part C programs implemented a multicomponent professional development sequence as intended with EI providers in their agencies.
- The use of the peer coaching, multicomponent PD sequence had a functional relation to early intervention providers’ implementation of the caregiver coaching model, FGRBI. The statistical effect size was also significant, indicating changes in early intervention (EI) implementation of FGRBI as a result of the PD they experienced (Romano, Schnurr, Barton, Woods, & Weigel, 2023).
- This study offered experimental evidence that when peer coaches in EI have sufficient training and use a PD sequence as intended, most providers can attain gains in their use of FGRBI. In prior research, FGRBI itself has been linked to increases in child communication and motor development in children with disabilities, and the approach is designed to increase caregivers’ feelings of self-efficacy and confidence in supporting their child’s early learning.
- Child data indicated that during the time in which EI providers received training in FGRBI, children made pre-post gains in communication scores on the IGDI-ECI, which measures gestures, vocalizations, words, and word combinations.
- These data are also important in the context of implementation science frameworks in education that explore how real-world programs can explore, install, scale, and sustain important practices in the field. Studies that use internal peer coaches to deliver PD are rare but critical. Programs across the country need pathways by which they can improve educational systems from within, and this study offers an example of how regional peer coaches can improve the quality of EI in their programs.
People and institutions involved
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SubAwardee(s)
Products and publications
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ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Additional project information
Additional online resources and information: www.fgrbi.com
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