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.
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LENA Grow
offers evidence-based professional development for infant, toddler, and preschool teachers.
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LENA Start
builds school readiness and strengthens families with parent-group classes.
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LENA SP
offers reliable, detailed language environment data in research and clinical applications.
In the BrightStartTN Clearinghouse, LENA Grow is an evidence-based and informed model for technical assistance and training and is an approved strategy for ECE Workforce Development, aligned with high quality care and education ages 0-5, positive early care and education climate, and social emotional health. The BrightStart TN Clearinghouse also lists LENA Start as an approved Family/Teacher Engagement Strategy, aligned with positive parent/child interaction, reading with children, and supports for families.
LENA Grow professional development hours count toward the required annual training hours for Tennessee child care licensing when documented in the TNPAL system. LENA Grow satisfies the 3-hour Pre-Literacy and Literacy Skills and Education Implementation requirement.
LENA also has crosswalks with Head Start, CLASS, The Pyramid Model, ZERO TO THREE, and more!
"The TN CCR&R sees the LENA Grow program as an important piece of the puzzle in proper language and socio-emotional development for children in Tennessee. The specialization training will not only better equip educators to deal with challenges in the classroom, but these educators will also be eligible for the AIMHiTN Endorsement upon completion.”
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, Tennessee
AmyMarciniak@LENA.org
"Using LENA helps us to meet our school readiness goals, and it helps teachers engage in conversations with parents on what the data is saying, make suggestions, and provide resources to extend the learning at home."
Read these and other stories about partner success stories and research findings in Tennessee and beyond.
“The TN CCR&R sees the LENA Grow program as an important piece of the puzzle in proper language and socio-emotional development for children in Tennessee,” said Heather Hicks, Director of the TN CCR&R.
Porter-Leath uses LENA programs to boost early literacy and connect teachers and families.
Through a collective impact model, the University of Memphis is implementing LENA programs to build stronger families, increase teachers’ skills, and support students’ learning.
It’s more important than ever to equip early childhood educators to address children’s unique needs and help get their language and social-emotional development on track. There’s strong new evidence to suggest that LENA Grow, a language-focused professional development program for early educators, is effective at doing just that.
What role may a child’s earliest interactions play in laying the foundation for learning to read? In this webinar, we take an expert deep dive into how conversational turns from ages birth to five fit into the ongoing discussions around the “science of reading.”
It’s no easy task for early childhood leaders to strategically disburse funds from PDG B-5, CCDBG, CLSD, and ARPA grants into the hands of LEAs and CCR&Rs. In fact, the alphabet soup of early childhood education funding streams can be a bit hard to digest, so to speak. In this webinar, state leaders will tell the stories of how and why they invested in initiatives for statewide implementation, as well as their visions for further expansion and impact.
