Two infants in Claudia Escalera’s room wore matching vests over their shirts as they picked at their lunches. The extra layer, however, wasn’t there to catch crumbs.
Instead, a small device — the size of a smartphone — was nestled into a front pocket, landing just across their chests. Oblivious to its presence, the infants continued along with their meals, predictably smearing bits of macaroni across their faces and plates.
“They don’t even notice them,” Escalera said. “They don’t even mess with the devices.”
The new technology is a part of a pilot program. The children wear “talk pedometers” to track how communicative they are and how often they interact with teachers inside Day Early Learning at Park 100 on the northwest side.
Studies show young kids’ verbal frequency is an early sign of how ready they are for kindergarten. And, since infants and toddlers don’t take tests at school, program coordinators say this new technology is one of the most robust ways early childhood teachers can collect empirical data. They use it to modify lessons and ensure they’re reaching all students.
“There certainly should be limits for where technology plays a role in our early education spaces,” said Erin Kissling, Early Learning Indiana’s chief learning officer. “But, the difference that we’re making for children because we know this information is certainly worth the implementation.”
Early Learning Indiana — a nonprofit dedicated to early childhood education and advocacy — runs 10 Day Early Learning centers in Indianapolis. Most work with kids ages 6 months to 5 years old.
The centers also serve as “lab schools” — a place where educators can experiment with new curriculum or teaching strategies not yet used widely in classrooms.
Their use of the LENA talk pedometer technology is now expanding across the state thanks to a $3.2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment.
It comes following years of increasing focus on elementary school education after state officials sounded the alarm about a troubling trend: In the three years after pandemic-driven school closures, nearly one in five Hoosier students could not pass Indiana’s third grade reading exam.
“We want to see continued growth for children,” Kissling said. “All of the things that we do are ensuring that children are ready to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.”
Indy early learning centers get a jump on new tech
Escalera was among the first teachers to try out the technology when Early Learning Indiana introduced the LENA program a couple of years ago.
The first classrooms to try the LENA devices — short for Language ENvironment Analysis — used them over a period of five weeks.
During that time, children would wear the talk pedometer once a week and teachers would use the other four days to study data, set goals and make changes in their classroom.
For example, teachers might learn that conversation becomes very one-sided during a scheduled read aloud time. With that knowledge, the teacher can make small tweaks to make their lesson more interactive by asking questions as they read or by encouraging kids to “repeat after me.”
The device differentiates students from adults based on the tone and pitch of a voice. After a day of wearing the device, the LENA platform creates a report that shows when students are the most talkative as well as how many times individual students interacted with their teacher.
After the five-week sequence, 89% of teachers said they saw changes in their children’s language development, according to an Early Learning Indiana survey. And, with time, teachers like Escalera have grown to use the devices more regularly.
Day Early Learning makes parents part of the process
Escalera said she was initially shy around the new technology, but now sees it as a challenge.
“I like that, seeing how much it changes throughout the months,” she said. “The older they get, the more talkative they get.”
She says she’s encountered some skeptical parents. When that happens, the early learning team explains that the devices don’t save recordings of what’s being said in the classroom, but instead track the frequency of communication.
Still, parents can opt out. Some do, but others have come around once they understand the technology better.
The Day Early Learning centers also make sure parents have a role to play in the routine. Staff ask guardians to help their children put on their shirts at the start of the day and share data with them so they can also follow their kids’ progress.
It’s something Escalera says she enjoys as both a teacher and as a parent. Her 2-year-old son is in a toddler room at the Day Early Learning Center where she works.
“It’s reassuring that my child is in a classroom that is actively learning,” she said.
Expanding LENA technology across Indiana
Early Learning Indiana provides its teachers with coaches to help the educators track and interpret the data collected by devices.
Kissling said the devices have become an especially important tool in teaching instructors who are new to the early learning environment. Unlike in K-12 schools, most early childhood caregivers don’t need a special license or degree to teach.
And, traditional forms of professional development, like classroom observations, can sometimes be nervewracking. The devices serve as a neutral gauge for how teachers are doing and can bring into focus trends a supervisor may not pick up on during their observations.
“The ability to really look at that information and do something different tomorrow — I think that’s the other part that our educators really embrace,” Kissling said.
In total, more than 110 teachers and 500 children have participated in the program since Early Learning Indiana rolled it out locally in 2022. The program is growing this month to serve nearly 90 classrooms in the state. The expansion will include, for the first time, older students in preschool classes.
Kissling sees the growth of the program as a positive step in increasing awareness for a difficult profession that at times can go overlooked.
“The work of early educators is hard work, but not often well-recognized,” Kissling said. “This is an opportunity for so many of our teachers to understand that they have that quality practice.”
Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her at carley.lanich@mirrorindy.org or follow her on X @carleylanich.
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