“Parents Have the Power” Conference Vows to Close the Learning Gap

DENVER - Nov. 2, 2015 - PRLog -- Denver, Colo., 11/1/15.  An elite group of researchers and interventionists has assembled here to share insights and new discoveries on how to close learning and achievement gaps for children born into poverty. The overall message: teach parents how to talk more effectively and interactively with their babies during the critical first three years of life.

The three-day conference, sponsored by the Boulder-based LENA Research Foundation, has attracted 200 attendees from diverse fields including brain science, psychology, social work, pediatrics, literacy, early learning, philanthropy, and public policy. Sunday’s opening session, co-sponsored by the Bridging the Word Gap National Research Network, featured 18 researchers presenting work on how science is being put into action to help close the “word gap” in communities across the country.

“Focus is extremely important, now more than ever,” said Dr. Stephen Hannon, president of the LENA Research Foundation.  “More than half the children coming into America’s schools today are low income, and the data show that they disproportionately start school under-prepared.  Early language is the starting point in turning that around.”

The conference marks the 20^th anniversary of the seminal work on the effect of early language, Meaningful Differences, byDrs. Betty Hart and Todd Risley.  The authors termed the poverty-related language gap “the early catastrophe.” Monday and Tuesday’s sessions will feature numerous presentations (http://www.lenafoundation.org/lena-conference-2015/program/) on progress over the past two decades toward averting that catastrophe, plus lectures and discussions on supporting parents, key ingredients in intervention, the language gap as a public health crisis, and how to fund and scale programs that offer solutions.

The conference will also review the Foundation’s parent-directed intervention model, LENA Start™, which debuted earlier this year in two metropolitan areas in Alabama and California. LENA Start combines parent feedback from LENA’s “talk pedometer” technology and group parenting classes that help caregivers improve early language. Initial results will be shared at the conference, along with a report on another program incorporating LENA technology, Providence Talks, a city-wide initiative in Rhode Island.

In creating LENA Start, the foundation factored years of research and experience partnering with interventionists in programs like Providence Talks, the Thirty Million Words® Initiativein Chicago, and LENA’s own pilot programs in Colorado.  LENA Start aims to reach a broad cross-section of needy families through a cost-effective model with high return on investment. Local sponsoring organizations provide funding for technology, materials, and training from LENA, and staffing to recruit parents, deliver classes, and manage the program. More local implementations are expected to be announced shortly.

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About the LENA Research Foundation
The LENA Research Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity based in Boulder, Colorado.  Its mission is to accelerate language development to improve the cognitive, social, and emotional health of children birth to five and close achievement gaps.  The LENA System™, developed at a cost of more than $40 million contributed by co-founders Terrance and Judith Paul, measures a child’s language environment and provides vital feedback to parents and professionals, and is used by researchers and clinicians all over the world.  The foundation’s LENA Start™ parent-directed intervention program uses LENA feedback and group parenting classes to help improve the home language environment for at-risk children birth to 3.  For information, contact Beth Dresser at 303-441-9048, or email bethdresser@lenafoundation.org.