Research Database

Parent education to improve early language development: A preliminary evaluation of LENA Start

Topic:

NA

Authors:

Elmquist, Finestack, Kriese, Lease, McConnell

Journal/Publication:

Journal of Child Language

Year:

2020
Participant Age Range:
1 –
36 months

Sample Size:

56

Participant Language:

English, Spanish

Abstract:

Parents play an important role in creating home language environments that promote language development. A nonequivalent group design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a community-based implementation of LENA Start™, a parent-training program aimed at increasing the quantity of adult words (AWC) and conversational turns (CT). Parent-child dyads participated in LENA Start™ (n = 39) or a generic parent education program (n = 17). Overall, attendance and engagement in the LENA StartTM program were high: 72% of participants met criteria to graduate from the program. Within-subject gains were positive for LENA Start™ families. Comparison families declined on these measures. However, both effects were non-significant. Between-group analyses revealed small to medium-sized effects favoring LENA Start™ and these were significant for child vocalizations (CV) and CT but not AWC. These results provide preliminary evidence that programs like LENA StartTM can be embedded in community-based settings to promote quality parent-child language interactions.

Free Webinar: Interaction Data as Quality Systems Evolve

Every state’s quality system is designed to answer an important question: is a program providing high-quality care and learning experiences for children?

Yet quality is a moving target — in how it’s defined, how it’s measured, how it’s communicated, what it means for children in the classroom. As states evolve their approaches – some using rating systems and others emphasizing continuous quality improvement – understanding the indicators that matter most has never been more important.

Read more here > 

October 14 at 1:00 p.m. ET