Mesquite Independent School District, serving around 40,000 students in the suburbs of Dallas, has developed a successful early literacy initiative powered by city-wide dedication to a unified vision: School readiness and early literacy are vital for long-term success, and they start at birth.
LENA - Building brains through early talk
Webinars (6)
Kindergarten readiness and conversational turns: Study results point to a boost from LENA Start
A study out of South Carolina has found a correlation between increased conversational turns and higher scores on the state’s Kindergarten Readiness Assessment.
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.
Structuring effective community partnerships to grow impact (work smarter, not harder)
A discussion with leadership from community-wide programs about key elements for building successful partnerships.
Providence Talks Replication: Early Childhood Innovation at the Municipal Level
Providence Talks was one of the first early language initiatives implemented at the municipal level, with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Learn how the program is being replicated in five more cities.
Field notes: LENA Start implementers on building community partnerships
Forming partnerships is one of the most effective ways to supercharge your program’s reach and impact. In this webinar, hear from a panel of representatives from LENA Start sites on how they’ve identified and engaged key partners.
Blog Posts (22)
Highlights from a Qualitative Evaluation of LENA Grow in Hartford: Nine Takeaways
Researchers from the University of Hartford highlight nine key insights from Hartford’s qualitative evaluation of the LENA Grow program in Hartford, Conn.
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.
Providence Talks Replication: A renewed commitment to quality child care in Virginia Beach
“Investing in our youngest citizens at birth and continuing to do so throughout their school years makes smart economic sense,” says Virginia Beach GrowSmart coordinator Barbara Lito.
Providence Talks Replication: From participant to program director in Detroit
Victoria Washington went from LENA Start participant to Director of Brilliant Detroit’s 313Speaks program.
Providence Talks Replication: Sustaining growth and “working toward yes” in Birmingham
Having nearly quadrupled their reach in just three years’ time, Birmingham Talks is focused on a bright future.
Providence Talks Replication: Building city-wide impact one family at a time in Hartford
Entering its fourth year, Hartford Talks is focusing on families. Here are two families’ LENA stories.
“1, 2, 3 Talk with Me”: One mother’s story of completing Virtual LENA Start
Working from home while caring for a baby is an all-too-familiar juggling act these days. A mom in Phoenix tells her story of how LENA Start helped.
Kindergarten readiness, parent education, and conversational turns: A statistically significant correlation in a rural South Carolina school district
A study out of Cherokee County, S.C., has found a correlation between parent participation in LENA programs and higher scores on the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment.
5 steps to successful LENA Grow recruitment
How to talk with teachers, family child care providers, and center directors about participating in LENA Grow.
Talking with infants, structuring community partnerships, and more: A look back at our most popular content of 2021
A look back at some of the blog posts, webinars, reports, and resources that attracted the most eyes and ears in 2021.
Reflective feedback in parenting interventions: Coming back to the “Why”
Programs like LENA Start and LENA Home can help parents reflect on their hopes and dreams and follow through on their goals.
A renewed emphasis on adult-child interactions in Texas
A recent change to the Texas Rising Star QRIS assigns more weight to the importance of adult-child interactions in early childhood programs.
Rural school districts: Challenges, opportunities, and LENA
Every rural school district has its defining features and challenges, but they all share a common opportunity: boosting early talk and getting a jump start on school readiness.
Celebrating AAPI Heritage: Building community and connecting to culture in Hawaiʻi
In recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we’re highlighting two LENA Start programs in Hawaiʻi that are doing amazing work around cultural responsiveness.
Virginia Beach adapts to virtual programming to boost child outcomes, reduce caregiver stress
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, the team in Virginia Beach knew that they couldn’t afford to wait to transition to virtual programming for families and teachers.
Case study: Why three organizations pivoted to offer virtual LENA Start classes
When the pandemic hit, community organizations found their regular programming for families abruptly cut off. Learn why three pivoted to virtual.
Study from University of Minnesota finds LENA Start fits well into community infrastructure
A new study on LENA Start from the University of Minnesota discovered that the program can be successfully implemented in community-based settings and that families enjoy participating.
To improve quality in child care, Dallas nonprofit looks to LENA Grow with virtual coaching sessions
Coaches have created a new system to ensure teachers are still receiving crucial PD on how to support early brain development.
Universities use LENA to put early childhood research into action
Universities that use LENA are putting research into action, producing valuable data, and creating hands-on learning opportunities for students and faculty.
Implementing statewide PD for ECE teachers in Mississippi: Questions from the webinar
We had the privilege of hosting a webinar featuring our partners in Mississippi to learn how they implemented LENA Grow at a statewide level. Here, we answer common questions that arose during the webinar.
Q&A with Dr. Loretta Rudd: How University of Memphis is broadening their collective impact approach to scale early childhood programming
Through a collective impact model, the University of Memphis is implementing LENA programs to build stronger families, increase teachers’ skills, and support students’ learning in their local community.
Georgia Department of Public Health uses community partnerships and Project LAUNCH funding to scale parent programming county-wide
The team at the West Central Health District drew on a range of existing community partners to find space to run classes, recruit parents, and scale impact.
Articles (22)
When Cities And Philanthropies Team Up, Good Things Happen
Birmingham Talks, which aims to make the city America’s sandbox for innovation in early childhood education, is using “talk pedometers” to close literacy gaps for thousands of children.
Virginia Beach family featured in ‘The Right to Read’ social justice documentary
“This is truly a crisis because two-thirds of our children in this country are reading below grade level,” said filmmaker and director Jenny Mackenzie. “We have to decide, do we have the political will to stand up and say ‘Enough?’ This is a huge issue and it is continuing to perpetuate systemic racism because we are leaving Black and Brown children behind?”
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.
‘It is life-changing!’: Virginia Beach TALKS offers free early learning class for parents
Parents and coordinators reflect on the success of Virginia Beach's LENA Start program as it celebrates its third year.
Parents in Delaware Can Improve Their Child’s Literacy Through This Device
"It's a great tool that parents can use that helps them be able to have better conversations for a lack of better terms with their children," said Monica Mandujano, the Spanish coordinator for Lena Start in Delaware.
Mesquite ISD offering free classes for parents of young kids to help promote verbal development
Outside Dallas, Texas, Mesquite Independent School District is gearing up for LENA Start through its Read, Play, Talk initiative.
Families find success in LENA Start program
Read Aloud Delaware's LENA Start program, launched in September 2020, has made an impact for families in a short span of time.
Providing building blocks for lifelong learning and strong communities
In Colorado, LENA Start is one of the many programs Pikes Peak Library District offers so that it “can be a reliable anchor for those with young children in their lives.”
Bay County Libraries Begin Early Childhood Language Development Program
In Michigan, the Bay County Library System is launching its first LENA Start program.
Language program for parents and babies offered by Birmingham Talks
After launching its first LENA Start program in the fall of 2020, Birmingham Talks is recruiting families for its next program cycle.
LIBRARY NEWS: New Early Literacy Program Arrives in Pagosa
In partnership with AmeriCorps and the San Juan BOCES, Archuleta county is launching LENA Start, a talk-based early literacy program focused on children aged birth to three.
Literacy program looking for new participants
After a successful first group, Read Aloud Delaware is recruiting families to a new virtual LENA Start group.
Southwest Colorado program helps parents grow child’s literacy
Families are invited to enroll in a new program to boost language development in infants and toddlers in southwestern Colorado.
Read Aloud launches initiative to close literacy and talk gap
A statewide nonprofit in Delaware will launch LENA Start to connect with families during the pandemic.
Read Aloud Delaware Launches New Partnership to Close Literacy and Talk Gap in Children
Read Aloud Delaware is partnering with a national nonprofit, LENA, to close the talk and literacy gap in children.
Sioux City recognized for work in supporting early school success
The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading has recognized Sioux City with Pacesetter Honors for its work in 2019, including using LENA Home to boost school readiness for infants and toddlers.
‘Word pedometer’ aims to improve language development for children in Southwest Colorado
LENA Grow and LENA Home encourage teachers and parents to converse more with infants and toddlers in Southwest Colorado.
Wyndham Vale Childcare Centre in Australian First to Use Technology to Boost Language Development in Early Childhood
For the first time, an Australian child care center is using LENA Grow professional development with early childhood teachers.
Brilliant Detroit opening 7 new neighborhood sites this year in expansion push
A new nonprofit in Detroit is expanding initiatives focused on kindergarten readiness, early literacy, and family stability in high-need neighborhoods.
New language program could increase school readiness in Spartanburg County children
A new program from the Spartanburg County Public Library and partners could help improve kindergarten readiness countywide thanks to two grants from the Mary Black Foundation and LENA.
City of Providence Launches “Providence Talks”
Providence, Rhode Island won Grand Prize in the 2012-2013 Bloomberg Philanthropies' “Mayors Challenge” competition with a proposal to use the LENA System for recording and reporting children's language environment as part of a pioneering initiative to improve language development in children ages 0-3. The “Providence Talks” program, which took first place in the competition against 20 finalists selected from 305 applicants, rolls out this spring with a pilot of 75 families, and is expected to grow to 2,000 families by 2015. The LENA donated its full participation in Providence Talks, including all equipment, software and staff time.