We Need to Talk
- Preschool Promise
- Nov 27
- 1 min read
The Preschool Promise Birth to Three team has released results from a four-year study examining how to strengthen the quality and quantity of interactions between teachers and young children. Funded by a $400,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, and conducted in partnership with eight child care sites across Montgomery County, the primary focus was on conversational turns occurring during everyday moments, measured using LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis), alongside teacher professional development classes focused on intentional literacy practices and in-classroom coaching.
Key Findings showSignificant Gains in Conversational Turns
Nearly all classrooms demonstrated a substantial increase in the quality of conversational turns, as measured by the CLASS tool.
Among children whose conversational turn counts were below the national average, the program achieved a 78% increase in conversational turns—representing the largest gains among all participants.
The quality of adult–child interactions strengthened across participating classrooms.
In the final year, classrooms showed improvement across all CLASS domains, with the most notable gains in Language Modeling and Early Language Support.
