Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) Grant + LENA

Plug-and-Play Language

for CLSD Applications

• Enhancing the language and literacy development and school readiness of children, from birth through kindergarten entry.

  LENA Grow

  LENA Grow is an evidence-based professional development program that helps early childhood educators equitably improve classroom language environments. LENA’s strengths-based approach to improving language environments provides teachers a deeper understanding of the connections between language interaction and early brain development, social-emotional development, and early literacy skills. 

  LENA’s 14 Talking Tips are research-based techniques for increasing early talk and supporting healthy language and social-emotional development. Three “active ingredients” power the 14 Talking Tips: creating joint attention, increasing conversational turn-taking, and then recasting.¹ In addition, LENA’s Conversation Starters focus on various classroom routines, including shared reading, early literacy, and songs & rhymes. These practical strategies enhance the implementation of a variety of curriculum models. They also support children’s developmental progression in emerging language and literacy. 

  • LENA technology measures classroom language environments, with a special focus on counting conversational turns (back-and-forth interactions between a teacher and child).
  • Conversational turns are strongly predictive of child outcomes and tied directly to high-quality early learning environments. Peer-reviewed research links conversational turns to increased vocabulary,² reading skills,³ executive functioning,⁴ language development,⁵ social-emotional development,⁶ and brain development.⁷
  • By focusing on conversational turns, teachers become aware of classroom language experiences inequities, such as language isolation.⁸
    
  • In independent evaluations, LENA Grow participants have achieved significantly higher TS GOLD^® language, literacy, and social-emotional scores compared to control groups.⁹
  • LENA Grow is effective at creating more equitable language environments for dual language learners, who face a greater risk of classroom language isolation.¹⁰

  
  

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  References

  1. Warren, S. (2015). Right from Birth [White paper]. LENA. https://info.lena.org/hubfs/RightFromBirth_Warren.pdf
  2. Duncan, R., et al. (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
  3. Weiss, Y., et al. (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
  4. Romeo, R., et al. (2021). Neuroplasticity associated with changes in conversational turn-taking following a family-based intervention. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2021.100967
  5. Gilkerson, J. et al. (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. Romeo, R., et al. (2018). Beyond the 30-Million-Word Gap: Children’s Conversational Exposure Is Associated with Language-Related Brain Function. Psychological Science 29(5). https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617742725 
  6. Romeo, R., et al. (2018). Language Exposure Relates to Structural Neural Connectivity in Childhood. Journal of Neuroscience 38(36): 7870-7877. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0484-18.2018. Huber, E., et al. (2023). Language Experience During Infancy Predicts White Matter Myelination at Age 2 Years. Journal of Neuroscience 43(9): 1590-1599. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1043-22.2023
  7. Gómez, E., & Strasser, K. (2021). Language and socioemotional development in early childhood: The role of conversational turns. Developmental Science, 24(5). https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13109 
  8. LENA Foundation (2022). New Data Analysis: One in Five Children in Child Care Spends Most of the Day in Language Isolation. LENA Blog. https://www.lena.org/child-care-language-isolation-data-analysis/
  9. Dynia, J. (2022). The Impact of a Language-Based Intervention with Individualized Coaching in Early Childhood Education Classrooms [White paper]. SproutFive Center for Early Childhood Innovation. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dIN71WcKQ_FZAxnTWOWfNQihmCoAXCul/view. Heilmann, J., &. Moyle, M. (2022). Evaluation of LENA Grow in Milwaukee Head Start Classrooms [White paper]. Next Door Milwaukee. https://www.nextdoormke.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2022-Evaluation-of-LENA-Grow-in-Milwaukee-Head-Start-Classroom_Research.pdf. LENA Foundation (2023). With language and social-emotional delays on the rise, here's one part of the soluation. LENA Blog. https://www.lena.org/language-and-social-emotional-delays-lena-grow/
  10. LENA Foundation (2024). Dual language learners experience less teacher-child interaction in child care and preschool: New data analysis. LENA Blog. https://www.lena.org/dual-language-learners-in-child-care/
  11. Dill, J. (2021). The Relationship Between Conversational Turns and Student Achievement. PhD Dissertation.
  12. Huntsville City Schools (2019). Initial longitudinal evaluation results: Huntsville children whose parents participated in LENA Start have stronger literacy skills two years later [White paper]. https://info.lena.org/hubfs/Huntsville%20City%20Schools%20and%20LENA%20(2019).pdf
  13. Dill, J. (2021). The Relationship Between Conversational Turns and Student Achievement. PhD Dissertation.
  14. LENA Foundation (2023).Developmental Snapshot analysis shows that LENA Start’s benefits endure for two years. LENA Blog. https://www.lena.org/lena-start-snapshot-longitudinal-results-language-skills/
  15. Beecher, C.C., Van Pay, C.K (2021). Small Talk: A Community Research Collaboration to Increase Parental Provision of Language to Children. Child Youth Care Forum. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-019-09507-7
  16. Cunha, F. (2023). Language Environment and Maternal Expectations: An Evaluation of the LENA Start Program. NBER Working Papers Series. http://www.nber.org/papers/w30837

   

   

• Preparing and providing ongoing assistance to staff, including through high-quality professional development.

  LENA Grow helps teachers form a reflective practice habit that improves responsive caregiving and promotes continuous improvement. LENA Grow motivates teachers to be active participants in their professional development, helping them understand both the how and why of what they practice, as well as building skills in data literacy, goal setting, and child observation. Upon completion, teachers consistently report greater confidence and job satisfaction.¹ 

  The LENA Grow program provides:

  • High-quality training designed to build foundational knowledge of the LENA Grow program, including the importance between language interaction and early brain development.
  • Strategies to increase quality interactions equitably, achieved through the reflective feedback cycle.
  • Objective data on which times of day promote the most/least amount of interactive talk and which children experience the most/least amount of interaction.
  • Guidance on how to interpret data and apply it toward setting goals for lasting positive behavior change.
  • A proven way to increase CLASS^® scores.²

  Throughout five-weeks of LENA Grow, teachers participate in strengths-based coaching sessions. Each week, teachers review classroom and individual child language data, examining talk trends and patterns, identifying focus children, and learning strategies that support equitable language development.

  The LENA Grow Coach Guide provides week-by-week guidance for each coaching session, including weekly coaching intentions, teacher learning objectives, "caring coaching" callouts to enhance a focus on equity and inclusion, and checklists for facilitating each session. 

  LENA Grow has the potential to reduce teacher turnover through increased teacher self-efficacy.³ In addition, LENA Grow helps less experienced teachers accelerate their skills at fostering optimal language environments.⁴

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  References

  1. Dynia, J. (2022). The Impact of a Language-Based Intervention with Individualized Coaching in Early Childhood Education Classrooms [White paper]. SproutFive Center for Early Childhood Innovation. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dIN71WcKQ_FZAxnTWOWfNQihmCoAXCul/view. Hughes, Marcia, et al. (2023). Qualitative Evaluation of Hartford Grow Professional Development Model Designed to Improve the ‘Talk Environment’ in Early Childhood Care Settings [White paper]. https://www.lena.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Hartford-Talks-LENA-Final-Report.pdf
  2. Early Learning Coalition of Escambia County (2018). Results & Lessons Learned from the First Year of LENA Grow as Part of ELC Escambia’s “Grow With Me” Initiative [White Paper]. https://info.lena.org/hubfs/08.%20LENA_Grow/LENA%20Grow%20Y1%20ELCE%20Summary%20Report_v4.pdf. LENA (2019, July 29). Early learning classrooms in Fort Worth ISD using LENA Grow increase CLASS^® scores. LENA Blog. https://www.lena.org/fort-worth-class-score-increase. LENA (2023, March 14). Coaching for impact in Sarasota County: Increased TS GOLD^® and CLASS^® scores. LENA Blog. https://www.lena.org/lena-grow-coaching-child-care-sarasota/
  3. LENA Foundation (2023). LENA Grow may help keep early educators in the profession, new evidence suggests. LENA Blog. https://www.lena.org/lena-grow-increases-teacher-retention/
  4. LENA Foundation (2022). Classroom interaction and teacher experience: Relationships between conversational turn rates and years of experience in child care. LENA Blog. https://www.lena.org/child-care-teacher-experience-and-conversational-turns/

• Evaluating the success enhancing the early language and literacy development of children from birth through kindergarten entry.

  LENA Grow, designed to encourage more equitable talk environments, includes built-in evaluative information. The LENA Room Report and LENA Child Report provide a clear, hour-by-hour picture of how classrooms compare to national adult word count and conversational turn benchmarks. Using an accurate measure of adult words and conversational turns for a classroom, administrators can make decisions on how best to distribute staff resources to ensure optimal talk environments for all children across the day. Child outcomes and language gains are tracked from week to week.

  At the end of the program, classroom data is aggregated into a Partner Impact Report. Positive impact in talk environment is measured by two segments of children: 

  • Children experiencing less talk than their peers in the same classroom (+40% increase in conversational turns).
  • Children experiencing less talk than the national median of 15 turns per hour (+62% increase in conversational turns).

  
  

  The Partner Impact Report also includes results from a teacher survey reporting on the impact of the LENA Grow program:

  • 96% of teachers would recommend LENA Grow to other teachers.
  • 89% say LENA Grow helped them feel more confident in their teaching abilities.
  • 88% say LENA Grow increased their overall job satisfaction.
  • 81% say LENA Grow increased their communication with families.
  • 91% say they saw positive changes in children's language development.

  
  

  On a broader scale, LENA Grow has been shown to improve: 

  • CLASS^® scores in all three Pre-K domains (Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Instructional Support).¹
  • TS GOLD^® scores in the Language, Literacy, and Cognitive objectives.²
  • DECA and LAP™ B-K scores, measuring social-emotional development.³

   

   

  References

  1. Early Learning Coalition of Escambia County (2018). Results & Lessons Learned from the First Year of LENA Grow as Part of ELC Escambia’s “Grow With Me” Initiative [White Paper]. https://info.lena.org/hubfs/08.%20LENA_Grow/LENA%20Grow%20Y1%20ELCE%20Summary%20Report_v4.pdf. LENA (2019, July 29). Early learning classrooms in Fort Worth ISD using LENA Grow increase CLASS^® scores. LENA Blog. https://www.lena.org/fort-worth-class-score-increase. LENA (2023, March 14). Coaching for impact in Sarasota County: Increased TS GOLD^® and CLASS^® scores. LENA Blog. https://www.lena.org/lena-grow-coaching-child-care-sarasota/
  2. Dynia, J. (2022). The Impact of a Language-Based Intervention with Individualized Coaching in Early Childhood Education Classrooms [White paper]. SproutFive Center for Early Childhood Innovation. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dIN71WcKQ_FZAxnTWOWfNQihmCoAXCul/view. Heilmann, J., &. Moyle, M. (2022). Evaluation of LENA Grow in Milwaukee Head Start Classrooms [White paper]. Next Door Milwaukee. https://www.nextdoormke.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2022-Evaluation-of-LENA-Grow-in-Milwaukee-Head-Start-Classroom_Research.pdf
  3. LENA Foundation (2022). Research shows links between LENA Grow participation and social-emotional growth. LENA Blog. https://www.lena.org/research-shows-links-between-lena-grow-participation-and-social-emotional-growth/. LENA Foundation (2023). With language and social-emotional delays on the rise, here’s one part of the solution. LENA Blog. https://www.lena.org/language-and-social-emotional-delays-lena-grow/