For more information about incorporating LENA into your PDG B-5 SMART application, please contact Jodi Whiteman, Senior Director of Partnerships, at jodiwhiteman@lena.org.
LENA Grow is a data-informed solution for technology-enabled quality improvement. It provides actionable interaction data that states use to strengthen quality improvement, inform policy decisions, and measure progress across mixed-delivery systems.
We at LENA encourage you to consider us thought partners as you consider solutions and complete your PDG B-5 SMART application.
How LENA Grow Supports PDG B-5 SMART Grant Priorities
As states strengthen early childhood systems through PDG B-5 SMART Grant investments, they need actionable data, measurable outcomes, and technology-enabled systems that support decision-making across mixed-delivery settings.
LENA Grow provides child-, classroom-, site-, and system-level data that help states strengthen quality improvement, support the workforce, and track progress toward child outcomes such as kindergarten readiness and early literacy goals.
LENA Grow is SMART.
Strategic
Measurement
Analytics
Results
Technology
Strategic Measurement
- LENA Grow provides quantitative metrics (e.g., conversational turns, coaching fidelity) at the classroom, program, and state level that align with PDG B-5’s emphasis on measurable outcomes.
Analytics
- The LENA Grow teacher app puts empowering room- and child-level data directly into teachers’ hands to change classroom practice and boost child outcomes. It’s easy to use and manage — featuring hourly interaction counts, micro-learning, and tailored strategies based on real classroom data.
- LENA Online provides leaders with actionable data on teacher-child interaction’s systemic impact within their program and across their state.
Results Using Technology
- LENA Grow is powered by the LENA System™, which provides the world’s only validated measure of conversational turns. Developed in the early 2000s, LENA technology has seen continuous improvements over the years, including a major upgrade in 2025-2026.
- Multiple evaluations, both independent and internal, have shown LENA Grow to improve CLASS® scores, kindergarten readiness assessment scores, DECA and LAP™ B-K scores, and TS GOLD® scores in language, literacy, and social-emotional development.
- As a further proof point, the LENA System has been widely used in the research community internationally, making possible more than 250 peer-reviewed academic publications since 2008.
Here's how it works:
A LENA Day.
Children wear the LENA device to measure conversational turns. At the end of the day, the devices go into a dock. The data gets uploaded, the audio gets deleted, and the reports are created automatically.
Personalized learning.
Teachers complete short weekly app sessions with easy-to-read graphs and tailored feedback.
Putting learning into practice.
Teachers apply simple strategies as they work toward their goals.
LENA Grow Impact Report
The LENA Grow Impact Report shows how embedding LENA Grow’s teacher-child interaction metrics within early childhood systems leads to measurable improvements in practice and outcomes:
- Inform actionable steps to improve program quality, workforce stability, and child outcomes such as kindergarten readiness
- Identify disparities in teacher-child interactions
- Support cohesive approaches across Head Start, child care, family child care, and pre-K settings
Video: Every Interaction Counts
This is the story of a dedicated leader using LENA Grow to drive remarkable change at her early learning center. Watch this short documentary film to get a comprehensive look at the positive impact LENA Grow has on children and teachers.
Improving Program Quality
As measured by the LENA System™, conversational turns are an objective metric that complement QRIS modernization efforts, providing a scalable means of conducting needs assessments and determining continuous improvement priorities.
Program Quality and Conversational Turn Rates Are Correlated
In a study of 7,091 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in 883 classrooms, LENA’s research team found a clear correlation between quality improvement star ratings and baseline conversational turns rates. 1-star centers averaged approximately 15 turns per hour, compared to 26 for 5-star centers.
Source: Richards, J. (2026). Does an Early Childhood Program’s Star Rating Reflect What Children Actually Experience [Research Report]. https://www.lena.org/resources/research-reports/does-an-early-childhood-programs-star-rating-reflect-what-children-actually-experience/
LENA Grow Increases Interactions Across All Center Quality levels
In the same study of 883 classrooms, LENA Grow classrooms experience pre-post increases in conversational turns regardless of their center’s quality star rating. 1-star centers experienced the largest average increase of 17%, compared to 4%-9% for higher-rated centers.
Source: Richards, J. (2026). Does an Early Childhood Program’s Star Rating Reflect What Children Actually Experience [Research Report]. https://www.lena.org/resources/research-reports/does-an-early-childhood-programs-star-rating-reflect-what-children-actually-experience/
LENA Grow Increases CLASS® Scores
In partnership with the Early Coalition of Sarasota County, Fla., LENA researchers found that teachers earned higher CLASS® scores after participating in LENA Grow, especially in the domain of Instructional Support.
Source: Govoni, P. (2026). LENA Grow’s Impact on CLASS® Scores [Research Report]. https://www.lena.org/resources/research-reports/lena-grows-impact-on-class-scores/
Improving Kindergarten Readiness
Data analysis from three different school districts using three different kindergarten readiness assessments demonstrates the measurable impact LENA Grow has on children’s kindergarten readiness, particularly in language and early literacy skills.
LENA Grow + Kindergarten Readiness
Children in LENA Grow classrooms were 1.8 times more likely to demonstrate readiness in language and literacy, and 1.6 times more likely to demonstrate readiness overall. This is based on binary logistic regression analyses of data from Cherokee County, S.C., which uses the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA).
Comparable results were seen in Henderson, Ky., which uses BRIGANCE®, and Memphis, Tenn., which uses i-Ready®.
Source: Govoni, P. (2025). LENA Grow’s Impact on Children’s Kindergarten Readiness [White Paper]. https://www.lena.org/resources/research-reports/does-an-early-childhood-programs-star-rating-reflect-what-children-actually-experience/
Developing the Workforce
LENA Grow’s proof points around workforce development include improved teacher retention and higher self-reported job satisfaction and confidence.
Improving Teacher Confidence
An independent evaluation of LENA Grow in Columbus, Ohio, compared Teacher Perception Survey results from LENA Grow teachers to teachers at the same site who did not participate in LENA Grow.
Among other positive findings, teachers who completed LENA Grow were more likely to agree to the statement: “My expertise, training, and experience have put me on the cutting edge of the workforce.”
Source: Dynia, J. (2023). The Impact of a Language-Based Intervention With Individualized Coaching in Early Childhood Education Classrooms. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dIN71WcKQ_FZAxnTWOWfNQihmCoAXCul/view?usp=sharing
LENA Grow Has a Positive Effect on Teacher Retention
In partnership with Porter-Leath, a Head Start grantee in Memphis, Tenn., LENA researchers used statistical analysis to find that new teachers who participated in LENA Grow were five times more likely than other teachers to reach their one-year anniversary.
Source: LENA Foundation (2026). Promoting Healthy Social Behavior, School Readiness, and Teacher Retention [Case Study]. https://www.lena.org/resources/case-studies/promoting-healthy-social-behavior-school-readiness-and-teacher-retention/
Research: The Importance of Teacher-Child Interactions in Improving Program Quality and Child Outcomes
A large body of peer-reviewed research has linked conversational turns to optimal early childhood development in infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. This includes language1 and literacy2 development, brain structure and function,3 and IQ scores and academic skills in middle school.4
LENA data show that interaction deficits are systemic. Children in early learning settings experience substantially fewer conversational turns than those at home. For children in low-SES zip codes, the gap is even greater. This supports the need to assess and incorporate teacher-child interactions into statewide plans.
LENA Grow has been shown to improve kindergarten readiness,5 early literacy assessment scores,6 educator retention,7 and program quality.8 This is true cross different program types, such as Head Start, private child care, and pre-K, reinforcing a cohesive approach to professional development.
References
1 Duncan, R. J., Anderson, K. L., King, Y. A., Finders, J. K., Schmitt, S. A., & Purpura, D. J. (2022). Predictors of preschool language environments and their relations to children’s vocabulary. Infant and Child Development, 32(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2381
2 Weiss, Y., Huber, E., Ferjan Ramírez, N., Corrigan, N. M., Yarnykh, V. L., & Kuhl, P. K. (2022). Language input in late infancy scaffolds emergent literacy skills and predicts reading related white matter development. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2022.922552
3 Romeo, R. R., Segaran, J., Leonard, J. A., Robinson, S. T., West, M. R., Mackey, A. P., Yendiki, A., Rowe, M. L., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2018). Language exposure relates to structural neural connectivity in childhood. The Journal of Neuroscience, 38(36), 7870–7877. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.0484-18.2018
4 Gilkerson, J., Richards, J. A., Warren, S. F., Oller, D. K., Russo, R., & Vohr, B. (2018). Language experience in the second year of life and Language Outcomes in late childhood. Pediatrics, 142(4). https://doi.org/10.1542/ peds.2017-4276
5 Govoni, P. (2025). LENA Grow’s Impact on Children’s Kindergarten Readiness [White Paper]. https://www.lena.org/resources/white-papers/lena-grows-impact-on-childrens-kindergarten-readiness/
6 Govoni, P. (2025). LENA Grow and Early Literacy [White Paper]. https://www.lena.org/resources/white-papers/lena-grow-and-early-literacy/
7 LENA Foundation (2025). Teacher Experience, Training, and Conversational Turns [Research Report]. https://www.lena.org/resources/research-reports/teacher-experience-training-and-conversational-turns/
8 LENA Foundation (2025). LENA Grow’s Impact on CLASS® Scores [Research Report]. https://www.lena.org/resources/research-reports/lena-grows-impact-on-class-scores/