Poster #48 - Exploring the Mechanisms of a Language-Based Parenting Intervention: Evaluation of the LENA Program

• In Event: Friday Poster Reception

Abstract

In light of well‐documented socio-economic disparities in early language development—and the critical role that early language skills play in later cognitive, social, and academic outcomes, we evaluate a program aimed at improving these skills. This paper presents findings from an RCT evaluating the LENA Start Program, a 10-week intervention delivered by a Houston-area school district across English and Spanish cohorts. The curriculum—combining group lessons, hands-on activities, and objective feedback from the LENA device—was implemented with district staff, demonstrating real-world scalability: our collaboration shows the program can be embedded in school operations and scaled across typical district settings, not just in tightly controlled pilots, paving the way for broader adoption and long-term impact. We collected survey and recording data at baseline and endline; preliminary results show significant increases in conversational turns, shifts in parental beliefs and knowledge, and overall improvements in the home language environment. These effects are robust to alternative recording choices, recording durations, and attrition adjustments. To uncover heterogeneous impacts, we also employ causal forests.

We seek to extend our research to investigate the mechanisms through which this program is working by decomposing the treatment effect using a structural model. Pinpointing these mechanisms has the potential to generate concrete guidance for designing, scaling, and sustaining future language-enrichment interventions.

Author

• Jessica Nicole Rood, Rice University
  Presenting Author