In Florida, Pasco County Schools, among the largest school districts in the U.S., launched its LENA Grow program in January of 2023. They’ve reached children and teachers in Head Start, Early Head Start, and VPK (Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program) classrooms. The district’s Director of Early Childhood Programs, Vicki Wolin, will describe the why and the how of their LENA journey, touching on topics such as family engagement, CLASS scores, funding, and teacher job satisfaction.
LENA - Building brains through early talk
Webinars (9)
Measurable Talk = Immeasurable Benefits: Improving Teacher-child Interactions in Early Childhood Education
Learn how LENA technology supports positive outcomes for social-emotional, language, and cognitive development, delivering equity-minded insights into how children experience interactions on an individual level. Hosted by Smart Start.
Say hello to the new LENA Grow: Making every interaction count in early childhood education
Hear the individual stories of how LENA Grow has made a difference at every level of the early childhood education system, and learn about the big picture of LENA’s vision for LENA Grow as it reaches more and more communities.
Every interaction counts: Bringing back a thriving culture through early talk
Join ELC of Orange County and ELC of Sarasota County as they share their data and stories on how they’ve increased teacher confidence, competence, and CLASS scores while improving quality assessment outcomes despite the challenges of the past two years.
Staff retention and stress reduction: Bringing positivity (back) into the classroom with LENA Grow
What can we do in the here and now to keep our best educators in infant, toddler, and preschool classrooms? For one, we can rediscover just how wonderful classrooms can be.
Supporting early childhood educators now: strategies for building a voice and a community
Being an early childhood educator has always been challenging, but it seems to be getting harder. This webinar focuses on practical strategies to support educators by giving them a voice and building a community.
The return of in-classroom QRIS assessments: Building confidence among early childhood educators
There’s been no shortage of recent news about early childhood education. Join us for a discussion about a prominent challenge facing early education professionals that keeps a much lower profile: the return of in-classroom QRIS assessments.
What the Texas Rising Star QRIS can tell us about quality child care interactions
In Texas, the most recent review of the early childhood QRIS called for a greater emphasis to be placed on caregiver-child interactions. How is Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas using LENA Grow to help child care providers increase quality adult-child interactions?
Mitigating the Academic and Social Impacts of COVID-19 in Child Care
COVID-19 recommendations have changed the way child care providers are able to interact with children and support their early academic and social development. How can we continue to adapt while creating a positive learning environment?
Blog Posts (24)
Dual language learners in early childhood education: Webinar highlights
“You have it already in your heart. Get rid of your fear. Go for it. Try.” Highlights from LENA’s webinar about dual language learners in early childhood education.
“A soft landing spot, a happy place”: Celebrating early childhood educators
Just as the early childhood education profession is unique, so is each teacher’s story. This week, Teacher Appreciation Week, we’re telling just a few of them.
Let’s appreciate early childhood educators — truly, loudly, enthusiastically, and materially
Gather up those flashes of a well-timed hug, a generous smile, or an enthusiastic morning hello, and take more time to appreciate our early childhood teachers.
How Early Head Start/Head Start grantees use LENA Grow to meet performance standards during federal review
“The federal review team was impressed that LENA Grow was something we were doing for our teachers in the classroom,” said Jon-Vincent Jamir, PACT’s Head Start Area Manager and LENA Grow coach.
Are we failing our youngest dual language learners?: New data insights on child care language environments
Toddler and preschool classrooms across the U.S. provide significantly fewer conversational turns for dual language learners than for their monolingual, English-speaking peers. “[P]romoting language development for children who use heritage languages is among the most important things we can do,” said Dr. Jill Gilkerson, Chief Research and Evaluation Officer at LENA.
Lakeshore® partnership offers materials to help early educators increase quality interactions in the classroom
Developed in partnership with Lakeshore®, four kits are available to provide age-appropriate materials that align with the topics teachers explore during LENA Grow’s five-week coaching sequences and beyond.
Coaching for impact in Sarasota County: Increased TS GOLD® and CLASS® scores
An organization in Florida saw some amazing results in their very first LENA Grow classrooms. They want those results to have a positive impact on the whole community.
“I probably think about the program every day”: When professional development is more than just a program
“One of my students, he came in and told me, ‘Auntie, I’d like to read to you.’” A preschool teacher and a family child care provider in Hawaii tell their stories. What keeps them excited and motivated?
Survey results suggest LENA Grow improves educators’ professional outlook
Does LENA Grow help early childhood educators increase self-efficacy and job satisfaction as professionals who play a critical role in children’s lives?
Evidence-based professional development for early childhood educators: Webinar highlights
Two independent program evaluations of LENA Grow have established the program as evidence-based professional development. See the highlights from the webinar here.
“Mae Mae’s House”: One teacher’s story behind an evaluation of LENA Grow in Milwaukee
In this video, a long-time preschool teacher in Milwaukee reflects on LENA Grow and what motivates her dedication to the profession.
Bridging research and practice in early childhood education: SproutFive’s independent evaluation of LENA Grow
True to their commitment to bridging research and practice, SproutFive embarked on an independent evaluation of LENA Grow soon after implementing the program.
New research links early vocabulary skills to teacher-child interaction in preschool classrooms
“For all of us who care about the millions of children who spend most of their waking hours in child care, this is a call to action,” said Dr. Jill Gilkerson, Chief Research and Evaluation Officer at LENA.
New data analysis: One in five children in child care spends most of the day in language isolation
According to LENA’s recent analysis of day-long audio recordings from 15,820 children, approximately one in five children spent most of the day in language isolation.
Classroom interaction and teacher experience: Relationships between conversational turn rates and years of experience in child care
While more experienced teachers foster more interactive talk in their classrooms, participating in LENA Grow helps less experienced teachers catch up.
Research shows links between LENA Grow participation and social-emotional growth
Analyses reveal strong evidence that LENA Grow may give children’s social-emotional development a boost.
How LENA Grow teaches a coach to be a better coach
Seven ways LENA Grow has helped me help teachers take active charge of their own learning.
QRIS and interaction: Do quality rating systems reflect individual experience?
Data analysis suggests that approximately 1 in 4 children experiences very little adult-child interaction, even within classrooms at centers that have achieved the highest QRIS rating possible.
Announcing new enhancements to LENA Grow: Easy, inclusive, equitable
LENA Grow is designed to make every interaction count in early childhood education. The new enhancements make it easy, inclusive, and equitable.
Expanding PD hours for early childhood educators participating in LENA Grow
We’re committed to maximizing LENA Grow’s impact on early educators’ careers. Expanding LENA Grow’s approval for professional development hours is an important part of that equation.
A teacher, a coach, and an administrator on LENA Grow’s impact: Webinar highlights
Highlights from a webinar where we hear directly from a teacher, coach, and administrator using LENA Grow.
Preliminary findings suggest LENA Grow accelerates language development
Children participating in LENA Grow gained nearly 1.5 months’ worth of language skill acquisition in just one month’s time, achieving developmental milestones at an accelerated rate.
5 steps to successful LENA Grow recruitment
How to talk with teachers, family child care providers, and center directors about participating in LENA Grow.
LENA Grow updates are coming…So who’s behind the curtain?!
These 12 LENA Grow advisors are helping to implement big improvements to the program.
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Articles (4)
New language development program available for Tennessee early child care educators
The Tennessee Child Care Resource and Referral Network recently incorporated the LENA Grow interactive language development program into their training for infant, toddler and preschooler educators.
Birmingham Invests $1 Million in Early Childhood Education. What It Means
The City of Birmingham has made its largest investment ever in early childhood education, with a $1 million investment in Birmingham Talks, an initiative that provides curriculum, innovative technology, and personalized coaching to help build language skills in preschool-aged children.
Quality child care foundational for children’s futures
An investigative television reporter in North Central Wisconsin explores the importance of conversational turns in child care settings.
Phoebe Child Development Center performs above national average
For a local child care center in Georgia, using LENA Grow has boosted high-quality caregiving and led to measurable differences in both teachers and students.