Can the Language Environment Analysis Start Program Improve Children's Readiness for School? LENA Program Evaluation

The objective of the project is to implement the LENA Start Program at the Alief The objective of the project is to implement the LENA Start Program at the Alief Independent School District in Houston, Texas. The purpose of the study is to learn how maternal expectations about language development influence the child's language development. Also, the study will evaluate how much the mothers believe can affect their child's language development. More specifically, the program implementation will serve as a model that other school districts can readily replicate.

The procedures for this study are broken down into four sections. First, we explain how the LENA Start program lottery will randomly assign participants to the control or treatment group. Next, we explain the LENA Start program that the randomly selected study participants will attend. Then, we explain how the LENA system will be used to measure the child's language environment. Finally, we explain the two meetings parents will attend before and after participation in the LENA Start program as part of the evaluation study, including the instruments used for baseline and endline data collection at these meetings. 1. LENA Start program lottery: Participants who consent to participate in the LENA Start program lottery will be randomly assigned to either the control group or the treatment group. Only the treatment group will complete the LENA Start program. The control group will complete only the pre-program and post-program surveys. 2. LENA Start Program: If a participant joins the study, they will be invited to participate in the LENA Start Program conditionally upon being randomly assigned to the treatment group. In this program, they will meet other parents who have children of the same age, and they will have the chance to learn and discuss important information about their child's language development. The participants will practice tips about how they can put this information into practice with their own child, thereby enhancing their baby's language development and helping him or her be pre-K ready. Each session will last approximately one hour and there will be ten sessions (one per week). Participants will have the chance to choose a time that best suits their schedule and, if they miss a session, they can always arrange a make-up session with the coordinator. The sessions will take place either online through weekly Zoom meetings with the Alief ISD family liaisons or in person at the Alief ISD intermediate campus family centers. After each session, participants will be asked to have their child use the LENA recorder for a day. Once the recording is finished, we will arrange for the participant to turn in the recorder to one of the research assistants on the team. If the sessions are conducted virtually, the parent will be expected to do a contactless exchange by leaving the LENA recorder at a designated location and picking up a new one. If the sessions are in person, the parent will be expected to bring the LENA device to the session each week. From the LENA device recording, we will produce a report that describes the child's language development as well as the quality of the language environment each child is exposed to (as described above). In the Group Sessions, we will teach participants how to read the information from the report and how they can act in simple ways to greatly improve their child's language environment and, in consequence, his or her language development. Complete Developmental Snapshot: About o Покажи пълното описание...

Inclusion Criteria: Eligible adult participants include parents who meet all the criteria listed below. 1. Must be 18 years old or older. 2. Must have a child between 16 and 30 months old as of September 1, 2022. 3. Must speak English or Spanish as their native language. 4. Must live in the catchment area of Alief Independent School District. Children of the adult participants enrolled in the study are eligible to participate. The children must meet all the criteria below. 1\. Must be between 16 and 30 months old as of September 1, 2022 2. Must speak English or Spanish as their native language. 3. Must live in the catchment area of Alief Independent School District. Exclusion Criteria: Adult participants will not be eligible for this study if they: * Are NOT 18 years old or older. * Do NOT have a child between 16 and 30 months as of September 1, 2022. * Do NOT speak English or Spanish as their native language. * Do NOT live in the catchment area of Alief Independent School District. Children will not be eligible for this study if they: * Are NOT between 16 and 30 months as of September 1, 2022. * Do NOT speak English or Spanish as their native language. * Do NOT live in the catchment area of Alief Independent School District.