Arkansas, say hello to LENA Grow
96% of teachers recommend it!
LENA Grow is evidence-based professional development that delivers powerful data without the hassle. Backed by 20+ years of research, LENA Grow focuses on the key marker of quality in early childhood education: teacher-child interactions.
Arkansas is doing something special with LENA Grow ...
LENA Grow Reach in Arkansas
As of June 2026, LENA Grow has reached 450+ classrooms at 100+ sites across Arkansas. That’s just the start!
LENA Grow Partners in Arkansas
- Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative
- Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce
- Crowley’s Ridge Educational Service Cooperative
- Dawson Education Service Cooperative
- Little Rock School District
- Mississippi County, Arkansas E.O.C.
- Northcentral Arkansas Education Cooperative
- Northeast Arkansas Education Cooperative
- South Central Arkansas Cooperative
- Southwest Arkansas Education Cooperative
- O.U.R. Cooperative
- Walton Family Foundation
- Washington County Collaborative
It started in Batesville. With leadership from Excel by 8 and the Batesville Chamber of Commerce, pre-K teachers across four school districts participated in LENA Grow.
Funding from the Preschool Development Grant and program management from the University of Arkansas expanded LENA Grow's footprint and impact.
Local Lead organizations such as Ozarks Unlimited Resources ESC and Northeast Arkansas Education Cooperative began implementing LENA Grow, along with Little Rock School District.
More Local Leads came aboard: Dawson ESC, Washington County Collaborative, Northcentral ESC, Crowley’s Ridge ESC, Southwest Arkansas ESC.
The Walton Family Foundation stepped in with a significant philanthropic contribution in early 2026. With this gift, LENA Grow is slated to come to another 400 pre-K classrooms between 2026 and 2028.
The Mississippi County Economic Opportunity Commission stepped forward to bring LENA Grow to three dozen Early Head Start classrooms.
The Arkansas Department of Education put Child Care Development Block Grant funds toward expanding LENA Grow into more infant and toddler classrooms and Family Child Care homes.
With more infant, toddler, and pre-K classrooms experiencing LENA Grow in the coming years, Arkansas will see systemic impact across the state: kindergarten readiness, classroom quality, teacher retention — the list goes on ...
Empowering Early Childhood Education in Arkansas
Improving child outcomes, and proving our results.
Studies show that increasing interactions with LENA Grow boosts CLASS® scores, early literacy skills, kindergarten readiness, teacher confidence, and more.
LENA helps create Better Beginnings in Arkansas.
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. LENA Grow measures — and improves — the teacher-child interactions that play such a large role in the Better Beginnings quality improvement system and the Arkansas Child Development and Early Learning Standards.
Five Weeks That Change Everything
Teachers are loving LENA Grow
- 92% of Arkansas teachers report improved language development in their children after LENA Grow.
LENA helped me to connect more with my children and to take more chances with them. I like that the program was not complicated to understand or learn. It didn’t take up a lot of my time.
– Lesley Lemus, teacher at The Learning Center of North Arkansas, Green Forest Campus
Ready to transform your early childhood program in Arkansas?
Whether you’re ready to implement LENA Grow or just want to learn more, we’d love to connect.
Connect with Jodi Whiteman
Senior Director of Partnerships JodiWhiteman@LENA.org
See the latest resources ...
Webinar: Help From Day One – Redesigning Support for New Teachers
What if the key to a stronger early childhood workforce isn’t just better hiring — it’s better beginnings?
New research from LENA, in partnership with Porter-Leath in Tennessee, reveals a critical insight: the first months of a teacher’s career are a pivotal window — not just for retention, but for informing quality, confidence, and long-term growth.
Talking Tips for Transitions
Talking with children during transitions builds the brain systems they use for communication and learning.
Webinar: What is a Language Environment? Making Space for Every Child’s Voice
Even in classrooms full of noise and activity. We call it language isolation. It’s prevalent in early child education and something we all need to address. But what if language isolation — like so many of the biggest challenges facing early childhood educators today — can be improved by focusing on improving the language environment?
Holiday Recipes for Quality Time
The kitchen is one of the best places to build brains through conversation!
Turn-Taking With “Non-talkers”
Support a child’s communication even before they start using words!
Collaborating on Quality: Improving CLASS Scores and Child Outcomes
What are quality interactions in early childhood education? How can we measure them? And what’s the best way to improve?
In Partnership With Teachstone