Bloomberg Philanthropies will replicate an innovative early childhood learning program in five new cities. How this program works is that participating families receive a small device — a talk pedometer — and it counts the adult’s words spoken when a child is around. It also tracks the conversational interactions the child has throughout the day. Researchers at Brown found that children within the program made significant gains in the number of words they heard, as well as how often they participated in conversation. The gains were especially large for children who started out furthest behind. The five new cities will get tech and software they need to replicate what was done with families in Providence, provided by LENA, a national nonprofit that works within the space.