LENA Editorial Policy & Transparency Standards
Our Commitment to Content Integrity
At LENA, we believe that conversational turns are the single most powerful tool for building young children’s brains. As an early childhood education nonprofit, our mission is to transform children’s futures through early talk technology and data-driven programs. This editorial policy ensures that every article, case study, and research summary we publish is reliable and informative.
We provide our community — caregivers, early educators, and researchers — with content that is scientifically rigorous, and deeply human. To do that effectively, we’ve committed ourselves to an editorial process that prioritizes collaboration and accuracy, respects privacy, and always puts the dignity of families and educators first. Here’s how we do it.
What We Write About and Our Audience
Our content serves as a bridge between complex developmental science and daily educational practice.
Who We Write For:
- Families: Parents and caregiers seeking ways to support children’s development
- Early Childhood Educators: Infant, toddler, and preschool teachers looking for data-driven classroom strategies and professional development
- Early Childhood Program Leaders: Professionals who support early childhood programs, initiatives, and systems by improving classroom quality, workforce development, and child outcomes
- Researchers and Clinicians: Speech language pathologists, social scientists, linguists, neuroscientists, and others who benefit from the early language data the LENA System™ makes possible
Types of Content We Publish:
- Educational & Informational: Unprecedented insights into early language environments, along with practical guides for fostering language-rich environments
- Success Stories & Case Studies: Verifiable examples of LENA’s impact in communities
- Data-Driven Position Statements: Expert perspectives on early childhood education trends
- Research Summaries & Data Analyses: Accessible summaries of internal and external program evaluations and peer-reviewed studies
Sourcing and Fact-Checking Standards
We don’t just make claims; we provide the receipts.
- Primary Data Integrity: With the LENA System™, the only validated tool in the world for measuring conversational turns, we are able to provide deep insights into early language environments. These insights inform the stories we tell and the educational materials we provide.
- High-Authority Citations: When citing external info, we link to established and trusted sources, including, but not limited to, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), NAEYC, Zero to Three, ECTAC, Harvard University Center on the Developing Child, and NIEER.
- Research Database: The LENA System™ has made possible more than 250 peer-reviewed publications about early language development and related topics, providing large quantitative datasets accurately and efficiently. These publications have been thoroughly reviewed by LENA’s internal research team, and they inform our content.
- Internal Expertise & Field Interviews: We lean on our internal subject matter experts and regularly conduct interviews with the researchers, educators, and partners using LENA technology to ensure our insights are grounded in real-world experience.
- Information Gain: We strive to provide unique insights and original data interpretations that cannot be found on other websites.
Content Maintenance and Freshness
Science and practice evolve, and our content must keep pace.
- The “Living Document” Rule: Our core educational and research posts are kept up to date with the most recent information.
- “Last Updated”: Updated articles will display that they are updated so readers can ensure they’re viewing the most current data available.
- Research Updates: We regularly update our data analyses as more data becomes available.
Privacy, Integrity, and AI
- 100% Human-Authored: We do not publish AI-generated content. We use AI as a tool for efficiency, not as a replacement for human-crafted content. And every piece is approved by one or more of the experts listed below.
- Authentic Storytelling: We never use AI to generate stories or synthetic imagery. The families and educators featured in our content are real.
- Your Privacy is Priority #1: We never publish photos or names of children, parents, or our partners without express, signed permission. We also have a strict zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism; every idea we share is either original to LENA or clearly credited to its source.
- We’re Human. (And we’re here to talk.)
If you ever spot a mistake or feel like we could have explained something better, we want to know. Transparency is how we build trust with you. Reach out to us anytime at communications@lena.org.
The LENA Writing and Review Team
Due to the collaborative nature of creating the majority of our content, we use the “LENA Team” byline in much of our written content, particularly blogs. This designates that the content meets the highest standards of accuracy and relevancy. All educational and technical content is vetted by experts on our team (the LENA Team). They ensure that our guidance and storytelling align with current consensus on early childhood development and best practices in early childhood education.
LENA Team Member | Job Title |
|---|---|
Christina Barragan | Partner Success Manager |
Luis Bernal, MEd | Regional Partnerships Director |
Laura Camp, MEd | Senior Manager of Partner Success |
Sarah Coletti | Senior Partner Success Manager |
Lauren Cooper, MHS | Senior Product Specialist |
Katharine Correll, JD | Chief Impact Officer |
Gina Gates | Regional Partnerships Director |
Jay Dudley, MEd | Regional Partnerships Director |
Jill Gilkerson, PhD | Chief Research and Evaluation Officer |
Beth Gonzales, MEd | Senior Educational Content Manager |
Paul Govoni, MEd | Senior Data Analyst |
Colleen Haddad | Senior Specialist, Early Childhood Strategy |
Steve Hannon, PhD | President and Chief Executive Officer |
Kelsey Hewlett | Regional Partnerships Director |
Curtis Kuhn | Director Marketing and Content |
Amy Marciniak | Director of Growth Operations |
Nicole Neishapouri, MS | Senior Partner Success Manager |
Liz Pettit | Senior Product Manager |
Liz Pippin | Marketing Coordinator |
Jen Rhodes, MPH | Philanthropic Impact Manager |
Jeff Richards, MA | Director of Data Analysis |
Ivan Ross, PhD | Senior Manager of Marketing and Sales Enablement |
Rosemary Russo, MA | Senior Research Analyst |
Jodi Whiteman, M.Ed., C.E.I.M, IMH-E® | Senior Director of Partnerships |
Nicole Wilson, MA | Senior Partner Success Manager |