What truly prepares a child for kindergarten? Ask 10 experts, and you’ll get at least 11 different answers. During LENA’s recent webinar, “Rethinking School Readiness,” expert panelists explored this complex topic. We also shared exciting new research about how interactive talk in early childhood classrooms affects school readiness.

What Makes School Readiness So Complex?

“It’s an empirical quagmire,” explains Dr. Scott McConnell, consultant and early education expert at Renaissance Learning. This colorful description captures a basic challenge in early childhood education. Not everyone agrees what school readiness actually means.

 

The complexity goes far beyond simple checklists of teachable, testable skills. School readiness includes several parts of child development:

• Physical abilities and motor skills
• Social-emotional development
• Approaches to learning
• Language development
• Basic knowledge and cognition

“School readiness is both a set of skills and behaviors and a child’s ability to negotiate and take advantage of learning in a new setting,” McConnell explains. In addition to the skills we know how to teach, such as letters and numbers, there are the parts of readiness that are less skill based.

Adding to this complexity, readiness looks different in every community. What “ready” means in South Carolina might be different in Kentucky or Illinois. This affects how we measure progress and support early learning.

The Science Behind Early Talk and School Success

While definitions of school readiness vary, research shows a powerful constant. The impact of early talk on child development is clear. Interactive conversations between adults and young children create a foundation for multiple areas of school readiness. Early talk impacts more than just those teachable skills — though it does impact those things as well!

 

“If I’m on a desert island with a preschool kid and I can only bring one thing, it’s going to be something to help them with their language development,” McConnell says. This seemingly simple insight carries deep implications. Every conversation builds multiple skills:

• Vocabulary grows naturally through back-and-forth exchanges.
• Self-regulation develops as children learn to take turns in conversation.
• Social skills strengthen through positive adult interactions.
• Problem-solving abilities grow through verbal exploration of ideas.
• Executive function improves as children learn to listen and respond.

These conversations don’t require special materials or complicated interventions. Instead, they happen naturally throughout the day. They happen during meals, play time, transitions, and routine activities. However, making the most of these opportunities requires intentional effort from educators and caregivers.

What’s particularly exciting about focusing on early talk is how accessible it is. Unlike some aspects of school readiness, conversational turns offer a clear, measurable pathway to improvement.

Building Kindergarten Readiness Through Daily Conversations

An exciting new LENA study offers compelling evidence about the power of interactive talk in early childhood classrooms. Across three diverse school districts, children whose teachers participated in LENA Grow showed remarkable gains in kindergarten readiness compared to their peers.

 

“These findings are the most exciting data I’ve seen come out of LENA Grow,” shares Dr. Jill Gilkerson, LENA’s Chief Research and Evaluation Officer. The study reveals a clear pattern. Focusing on interactive talk helps prepare children for kindergarten success.

In three different school districts and across three different assessments, the story remains the same. Children who did LENA Grow were significantly more likely to demonstrate readiness in language and literacy. What makes these results particularly compelling is that they came from real classrooms in real communities. They were not from controlled research settings. Teachers did the program while managing their usual daily responsibilities. This shows that meaningful improvements in kindergarten readiness are possible within existing early childhood programs.

Supporting Teachers with Data-Driven Insights

Inside a busy preschool classroom, every moment counts. Teachers juggle multiple responsibilities while trying to give each child the attention they need. That’s where LENA Grow’s unique approach makes a difference.

 

“LENA has helped us parse out … what activities lend themselves to more conversation,” explains Dr. Jim Duggan, Assistant Superintendent at Bourbonnais School District 53 in Illinois. The district’s teachers have uncovered important patterns. They noticed how morning activities naturally generate more conversation than afternoon ones. They have also noticed how certain daily routines create great opportunities for interaction.

These insights help teachers make strategic decisions. Rather than simply trying to “talk more,” they can identify specific times when increased interaction has the biggest impact. The data also reveals surprising opportunities for engagement during transitions, outdoor play, and even cleanup time.

At Bourbonnais, this information shapes both daily practice and long-term planning. The district tracks children’s progress from preschool through elementary school. They have found clear links between quality early learning and later academic success.

Interested in the specific data insights? Read more about them here!

Building a Community-Wide Vision for School Success

What happens when one preschool building can’t serve all the children who need quality early education? Henderson County, Ky., found an innovative answer: Bring the learning to them.

 

“We realized our public preschool program can’t house all our students,” explains Kelsie Todd, Early Childhood Community Liaison with Henderson County Schools. They’re partnering with all the private child care partners in the area. They understand that preparing children for school requires a community effort.

LENA Grow plays a vital role in this community-wide strategy. During weekly Professional Learning Community meetings, teachers review their LENA data with coaches. They examine patterns and set goals for improvement. The program has been eye-opening even for veteran educators. Todd says that one veteran teacher, who nominated for a state teacher of the year award, was “blown away by LENA”

The impact extends beyond individual classrooms. “When we look at our kindergarten readiness scores,” Todd explains, “we don’t look first at our building and what we’ve done for our 400 students. We look at our entire community.”

This comprehensive approach is already showing results. The district tracks LENA Grow’s impact on kindergarten readiness scores. They look forward to looking at the long-term data as children move through later grades. Their data has also revealed important equity gaps. While their overall kindergarten readiness rate is around 55%, for Hispanic students it’s only 33%. LENA’s reports help teachers adjust their strategies to better support all children, including dual-language learners.

Looking Ahead: Every Conversation Counts

The path to kindergarten readiness involves more than checklists and assessments. Through the lens of early talk and interactive conversations, educators are discovering powerful ways to prepare children for school success.

The evidence spans from research labs to real classrooms. When teachers gain insights about their daily interactions, they transform ordinary moments into extraordinary learning opportunities. Whether in a public pre-K or Head Start classroom, a private child care center, or a community partner site, every conversation builds foundational skills that children carry into kindergarten and beyond.

As Scott McConnell noted in our webinar, if he could only have just one thing to help prepare a preschooler to start school strong, he’d choose something to support language development. The research backs his instinct. Early talk builds both the teachable and “unteachable” skills that create kindergarten readiness.

Ready to learn more about how LENA Grow can support kindergarten readiness in your community? Contact us at info@lena.org to start the conversation.