LENA supports early educators with evidence-based programs designed to encourage responsive adult-child interactions, known as conversational turns, which are among the most predictive drivers of child outcomes. Its small wearable device for children, often referred to as a “talk pedometer,” measures conversational turns, delivering language environment data that help adults increase interactive conversation and highlight opportunities to improve classroom quality and child outcomes. LENA Grow served over 25,000 children in 2025.
A 2021 internal study found that, in typical childcare settings, only four percent of children 18-24 months old consistently receive the optimal level of interaction to support their language development. The organization launched LENA Grow to address this challenge, utilizing talk pedometer technology to offer professional development and individualized strengths-based coaching for early childhood educators. Early evaluations of Grow found that the model could improve the number of conversational turns across a diverse range of early care and education settings. More recent research published in 2025 has strengthened the evidence that Grow can also benefit young children’s development. For example, in a quasi-experimental matching study, researchers at LENA found that Grow was associated with about two times greater odds of students demonstrating language and literacy readiness at the start of kindergarten.
Overdeck Family Foundation has supported LENA since 2017, when it reached less than 1,000 children through LENA Grow. Our funding and aligned capacity building have helped the organization continue to innovate on its program model, reduce implementation costs, generate rigorous evidence to boost early language outcomes, and grow reach. Carly Roberts, senior portfolio manager of School Readiness at the Foundation, has also served on LENA’s Board of Directors since 2020.
