LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) is a national nonprofit on a mission to transform children's futures through early talk technology and data-driven programs. LENA works with a wide range of partner organizations to boost early brain development and improve school readiness for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Since 2021, LENA has served 350 children and 100 early childhood educators in Louisiana, and LENA technology has recorded over 600,000 conversational turns. Put your community on the map!
⬤
LENA Grow
offers evidence-based professional development for infant, toddler, and preschool teachers.
⬤
LENA Start
builds school readiness and strengthens families with parent-group classes.
⬤
LENA SP
offers reliable, detailed language environment data in research and clinical applications.
LENA has crosswalks with Head Start, CLASS, The Pyramid Model, ZERO TO THREE, and more!
The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) adopted LENA Start in 2021, piloting the program in two of the state's 26 Ready Start Networks. By leveraging these local organizations, led by parish school boards, LDOE will be able to leverage data and best practices to better support families across the state, while the Ready Start Networks gain access through the state’s contract to a new resource and support for the families they serve.
When the LENA Grow coach is an approved trainer in the Louisiana Pathways Registry, LENA Grow PD hours count towards the required 12 clock hours of annual continuing education for Louisiana Early Learning Center Licensing Regulations and the Louisiana Career Development Track.
Whether you're with a library, school district, CCR&R, state agency, university-community partnership, public health initiative, or any other organization dedicated to improving early childhood outcomes, we invite you to learn more about bringing LENA to your community.
Connect with
Amy Marciniak,
Senior Regional Partnerships Director, Louisiana
AmyMarciniak@LENA.org
Read these and other stories about partner success stories and research findings in Louisiana and beyond.
Approximately one in four children experiences very little adult-child interaction, even within classrooms at centers that have achieved the highest QRIS rating possible.
LENA Grow is designed to make every interaction count in early childhood education. The new enhancements make it easy, inclusive, and equitable.
Highlights from a webinar where we hear directly from a teacher, coach, and administrator using LENA Grow.
While we’ve long known about the importance of early adult-child interactions, a research focus on children’s language experiences in child care classrooms has been long overdue.
Many previous studies have drawn connections between the quantity of back-and-forth interactions in early childhood and later linguistic and cognitive skills. Importantly, newly published research conducted in Chile has taken a novel direction, determining that infants’ language environments predict their socioemotional skills one year later.
Being an early childhood educator has always been challenging, but it seems to be getting harder. Crashing into yet another COVID wave in 2022, retaining staff and making them feel valued is top of mind. Yet, more often than not, we forget to ask the most important stakeholders of all: the teachers themselves.
