Leo鈥檚 wariness of Latin is understandable. When the “Habemus Papam” declaring him Pope was delivered in Latin, it encountered , reigniting debate about whether Latin is still useful in the modern era.

Rumors of Latin鈥檚 demise are greatly exaggerated, but school districts are planning its funeral. That needs to stop; the first step in planning for Latin鈥檚 continued life is to resist the elitist label that studying the language imparts. Latin is an equity tool, and we don鈥檛 acknowledge that enough. 

Latin programs across the country are being euthanized. In Needham, Massachusetts, a more than $2 million budget shortfall combined with declining enrollment led the public school district to eliminate its entire high school Latin program. Only 62 students were enrolled across four classes, compared to 945 in Spanish. Latin 1 had already been removed the prior year.

Over in Shaker Heights, Ohio, the district decided to Latin out of the middle school entirely 鈥� removing it grade by grade over three years 鈥� while technically keeping it at the high school for now. The high school Latin teacher warned it would be unsustainable: Without a middle school feeder, most students simply wouldn’t switch languages.

A t across Denver Public Schools put Latin at risk at Riverside High School, where the teacher noted that the lack of Latin in middle schools was already contributing to low high school enrollment. 

Cutting Latin off in middle school is the death knell for the language. Middle school Latin gets cut first due to low enrollment, which then makes high school Latin unsustainable, creating a self-reinforcing decline; about 80% of students who took Latin in middle school had been continuing it in high school.

That鈥檚 why the language is on life support. Only about 1,513 public high schools teach Latin, out of roughly 24,000 high schools total 鈥�  about of schools. That’s just public schools; private and Catholic schools push the number higher, but a comprehensive combined figure isn’t tracked precisely. Estimates put total K鈥�12 Latin enrollment at around 210,000 students, which is about of all students studying a foreign language.

This decline is not new: High school Latin students dropped from around 700,000 in , largely due to the post-Sputnik push toward math and science. More recently, Advanced Placement Latin exam takers fell from 6,083 in 2019 to 4,336 in 2025,suggesting continued erosion at the advanced level.

That鈥檚 bad for English speakers, as Latin forms the root of nearly two thirds of English vocabulary, especially the advanced words used in science, law and literature. For school-related vocabulary, the figure is 90%. Studying Latin can strengthen reading comprehension, which is why some schools still offer the course. 

It鈥檚 time to address the real reason why Latin studies have been declining without many scholars becoming too concerned: the elitism debate. 

Classics always had an elite image 鈥� classical knowledge was historically the hallmark of gentility 鈥� and parochial and private schools maintained classical standards longer than most public ones.This difference in offerings is most stark in the U.K.: only of private schools.

In the U.S., Latin is especially concentrated in certain types of schools: elite independent prep schools 鈥� such as Exeter, Andover and Groton 鈥� and Catholic secondary schools where it’s often required. 

But a third type of school is breaking that loop: charter schools. They demonstrate how to keep Latin alive. Classical Charter Schools in the South Bronx offer a tuition-free education in one of the most underserved congressional districts in the U.S., with Latin as a core part of the curriculum. Latin instruction starts in , framed not as prestige-building but as a practical tool: improving English grammar, spelling, vocabulary and readiness to learn other languages.The idea is to flip the script: give low-income kids the same linguistic tools that elite schools have always hoarded.

Latin critics have pointed out that no one speaks the language but that鈥檚 not exactly true.  Linguists like Tim Pulju argue that Latin never truly stopped being spoken 鈥� it continued in Italy, Gaul, Spain and elsewhere, g into the Romance languages over centuries.There鈥檚 an important distinction:  Classical Latin of Cicero and Virgil became fixed and may have died conversationally but Vulgar Latin 鈥� what ordinary Romans actually spoke 鈥� kept evolving into what we now call Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. 

For Latino students especially, Latin can be framed as the root of their own language, not a foreign elite artifact but something ancestral and relevant. 

Latin is very much alive but it鈥檚 limping. Presenting it as an equity tool rather than a classical tradition can change who sees themselves as a potential Latin student and can change curricula 鈥� and lives.

When 19-year-old Aleysha Ortiz told Hartford City Council members in May that the public school system stole her education, she had to memorize her speech.

Ortiz, who was a senior at Hartford Public High School at the time, wrote the speech using the talk-to-text function on her phone. She listened to it repeatedly to memorize it.

That鈥檚 because she was never taught to read or write 鈥� despite attending schools in Hartford since she was 6.

Ortiz, who came to Hartford from Puerto Rico with her family when she was young, struggled with language and other challenges along the way. But a confluence of circumstances, apparent apathy and institutional inertia pushed her haphazardly through the school system, according to Ortiz, her attorney and district officials.

Those officials, in statements that her attorney says display 鈥渟hocking鈥� educational neglect, have acknowledged that Ortiz never received instruction in reading.

Despite this, she received her diploma this spring after improving her grades in high school 鈥� with help from the speech-to-text function 鈥� and getting on the honor roll. She began her studies at the University of Connecticut this summer.

Ortiz can鈥檛 read even most one-syllable words. The words she can read were memorized during karaoke or from subtitles at the bottom of TV screens and associating the words she saw with what she heard, she said.

鈥淚 was pushed through. I was moved from class to class not being taught anything,鈥� Ortiz told The Connecticut Mirror during a series of interviews. 鈥淭hey stole something from me 鈥� I wanted to do more, and I didn鈥檛 have the chance to do that.鈥�

Ortiz was diagnosed with a speech impediment and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in early childhood and has been classified as a student with a disability for 鈥渁s long as I can remember,鈥� she said.

Ortiz also wasn鈥檛 taught how to tell time or how to count money. She can barely hold a pencil because of unaddressed issues with hand fatigue and disputes about school-based occupational therapy, she and her attorney said. She learned basic math, like addition, but has no other math skills.

Accommodations in her Individualized Education Plan, which spell out what services students will receive that school year, allowed her to audio-record classes and meetings with school leadership because of her inability to read or write in high school.

In recordings shared with the CT Mirror, made from March through June of this year, district officials acknowledged that in 12 years, Ortiz never received reading instruction or intervention. The CT Mirror also reviewed Ortiz鈥檚 educational records, including her recent IEPs and other documents.

鈥淚n my review of Aleysha鈥檚 IEP, she was never provided reading instruction,鈥� Noreen Trenchard, a special education administrator for the district, said at a May 29 Planning and Placement Team (PPT) meeting. 鈥淲hat is most concerning to me, honestly, at this time, is 鈥� with all of that information prior to today, no direct reading instruction was provided for her, and no PPT was requested to add that to an IEP. 鈥� That鈥檚 very concerning, very, very concerning.鈥�

Trenchard did not respond to a request for comment.

Ortiz said her mother鈥檚 ability to advocate for her was limited because of language barriers, insufficient translation services, and because the family didn鈥檛 know their legal rights to challenge district decisions.

Ortiz filed for 鈥渄ue process鈥� against the district in late June, which is a legal procedure in special education that鈥檚 triggered when families feel their rights were violated.

Ortiz鈥檚 lawyer, , said the young woman鈥檚 story may be one of the 鈥渕ost shocking cases鈥� of educational neglect she has seen in 24 years.

鈥淚t is really shocking, and it should never have happened and shouldn鈥檛 be happening,鈥� Spencer said. 鈥淗er whole future is going to be impacted.鈥�

Ortiz repeatedly described her special education experience with one word: traumatic.

She said she was unlawfully restrained, spent months in classrooms without a special education teacher or paraeducators, and was ridiculed by untrained staff who would laugh at her.

Her time in Hartford Public Schools was defined by feelings of isolation and loneliness as she sat in the back of classrooms for years and wished she would be able to do what the other kids were doing, she said.

While other students made friends and learned basic math and reading skills, Ortiz said she was stuck tracing letter worksheets on her own from first grade well into her middle school years.

Since first grade, she said, teachers, school leaders and district administrators failed her.

In a recording of a June 6 meeting with Trenchard, the district鈥檚 special education administrator, Ortiz can be heard saying she was denied the right to a fair education when teachers didn鈥檛 teach her how to write, when disability testing wasn鈥檛 done accurately and when she felt shamed by educators after she brought up how her IEP wasn鈥檛 being followed correctly.

鈥淧eople didn鈥檛 forget about me 鈥� no 鈥� people chose not to [educate me]. People chose not to [change] my IEP. People chose not to do this and that and this and that,鈥� Ortiz said at the meeting. 鈥淚鈥檓 the one paying the consequences, while those people are still getting their checks.鈥�

Ortiz tried to teach herself and make up for the areas her formal education lacked, but through those efforts, the 19-year-old said, she also lost the chance to just be a kid.

鈥淏asically [in high school], I would go to class. I would record and try to memorize everything the teacher said and what I wanted to write. Then, when I went home, I would stay and hear the recordings. I basically went to school two times in one day,鈥� Ortiz said.

鈥淚 wanted to join clubs, but I couldn鈥檛 do that because I didn鈥檛 have the time. 鈥� To this day, I鈥檝e never been out to the movie theater with friends, ever,鈥� Ortiz said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have time to have fun. It was either enjoy myself or fail my classes, and maybe if I was more ahead in reading or writing, I would鈥檝e had time [to make friends].鈥�

Ortiz鈥檚 story can鈥檛 be defined as a student who fell through the cracks 鈥� several people knew how her education was being neglected and did nothing, Spencer said.

鈥淪he鈥檚 had so many teachers. I don鈥檛 know how everybody failed her,鈥� Spencer said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how the district could have passed her through. I don鈥檛 understand how this happened. It鈥檚 negligence, in my opinion.鈥�

The district declined to 鈥渟peak specifically to student matters,鈥� because of 鈥渟tate and federal legal obligations,鈥� after requests for comment by the CT Mirror, particularly in regards to why it took so long to find a problem with Ortiz鈥檚 academic progress and whether officials were aware of similar situations happening with other students in Hartford.

But in a meeting on June 6, Trenchard acknowledged that educators may have violated Ortiz鈥檚 IEP, which is a legally binding document under the  and outlines the services and accommodations that will make a student with a disability successful in a classroom.

鈥淎nd truthfully, from what I鈥檝e seen, I see that you didn鈥檛 even have an appropriate IEP,鈥� Trenchard said.

鈥淧eople got to you too late, which has been the story of your life here,鈥� a Hartford Public High School administrator can be heard telling Ortiz in the recording from the meeting on June 6, despite Ortiz saying she had raised concerns for several years and they were never formally addressed.

Ortiz was able to graduate because she had met all her credit requirements, but she says she was only able to 鈥渟urvive鈥� high school through the use of speech-to-text applications and a calculator.

And though limited, the accommodations helped Ortiz become an honor-roll student and led to her acceptance to several colleges, including the University of Connecticut-Hartford, which she began attending part-time in August.

Ortiz鈥檚 success may be unique, but her challenges in the district are not, several current and former staff members from the school district told the CT Mirror.

鈥淚 think this happens a lot through Hartford schools,鈥� said a Hartford paraeducator who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think a lot of kids in Hartford get their services. She鈥檚 not the only one. 鈥� Any school [in the district], you鈥檒l find kids, even that are not in special ed, that don鈥檛 even know how to read and write 鈥� they just pass them over.鈥�

鈥淯nfortunately, the way the district runs, it鈥檚 short-staffed. It鈥檚 fast-paced,鈥� said a social worker who worked with Ortiz in high school and also requested anonymity for fear of retaliation. 鈥淲hile Aleysha is a very sad and touching story, it is one of many in the district that get overlooked.鈥�

Ortiz and her attorney think so too.

鈥淥ne of the reasons I didn鈥檛 drop out was from anger 鈥� and knowing that I might not be the only one, but you don鈥檛 hear it around,鈥� Ortiz said. 鈥淲ith me, people knew about it and didn鈥檛 want to do their job, and knowing this 鈥� it must be happening in other places.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 happening all the time, and it鈥檚 not just Hartford,鈥� Spencer said.

Aleysha鈥檚 story

At the age of 32, Carmen Cruz decided to migrate from Puerto Rico to the South End of Hartford with three of her four children, including Ortiz, who was 5 at the time, the second-youngest.

Ortiz鈥檚 mother declined interview requests, but Ortiz said her family came to the United States because services for students with disabilities were limited in Puerto Rico.

鈥淲e heard Connecticut had the best education and things like that, which is one of the reasons we came to Hartford,鈥� Ortiz said. 鈥淲e came to get better opportunities.”

In testimony to state lawmakers for more school funding earlier this year, Ortiz described preparing for her first day of first grade at Burr School, when the school educated grades K-8. That day was full of nerves but also tinges of excitement.

Ortiz only spoke Spanish, and learning English with a speech disability would be challenging. But Ortiz said her mother thought she would get the proper services and support to make sure she was successful.

鈥淭he first day of school, I was holding my mom鈥檚 hand and didn鈥檛 want to let go,鈥� she said in the testimony. 鈥淚 finally did, and I believe it was the biggest mistake of my life. 鈥� From the first day, I struggled so much.鈥�

Despite bringing a signed document from the Puerto Rico Department of Education outlining the need for occupational therapy, the service was never provided to Ortiz in Hartford Public Schools, according to her IEP and audio recordings.

For many of her primary school years, Ortiz admits, she struggled with behavioral issues, including throwing things in a classroom, screaming and running away. As she鈥檚 grown older, Ortiz said, she realized those behaviors were rooted in anger that manifested from an inability to communicate.

Throughout elementary school, Ortiz was often isolated from classmates and engaged in activities that didn鈥檛 pertain to learning, including organizing books, sweeping, resting her head on the desk and drawing pictures in the back of the room, she said. Through fifth grade, the only school work she was assigned was tracing letters on worksheets.

鈥淚nstead of teaching me, they would tell me 鈥楬ere, you go play games over there.鈥� And I鈥檇 see the other kids and would get angry,鈥� Ortiz said. 鈥淚 would just look and stare at the other kids doing their work. 鈥� It got to a point where I was the bad kid, and it felt good 鈥� because even though I was not like the other kids, at least I was something. And that, for me, was what mattered. I was something to someone [even if it meant getting in trouble].鈥�

Ortiz described several instances where she was removed by security guards by force, including a prone restraint practice where she would be forced onto her stomach and a knee was put on her back to the point that, she said, she couldn鈥檛 breathe.

Harford Public Schools did not comment on Ortiz鈥檚 allegations, but said, in general, 鈥減hysical intervention and seclusion are only used as a last resort and emergency intervention, by certified personnel, for students, after other verbal and nonverbal strategies have been attempted and only when the student presents immediate or imminent injury to the student or to others.鈥�

Ortiz said that wasn鈥檛 her experience.

鈥淚nstead of the security guards trying to have a conversation with me, they would literally just remove me by force,鈥� Ortiz said. 鈥淚 remember the principal came in, and she was like, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 not how you do it! That鈥檚 not how you do it! Check if she has marks.鈥� 鈥� I was traumatized. 鈥� and I was [thinking] 鈥榃ow, this is how America is?’鈥�

When Ortiz began to learn more English skills in third grade, she said, she developed a relationship with a homeroom teacher, but her communication efforts were shut down after hearing educators discuss how they couldn鈥檛 understand her.

When another teacher asked the homeroom teacher if they knew what Ortiz was saying, the homeroom teacher responded, 鈥極h, I don鈥檛 understand what she鈥檚 saying, I just say yes to whatever she says,鈥� Ortiz said.

鈥淛ust because I鈥檓 a special education student doesn鈥檛 mean I鈥檓 deaf 鈥� it鈥檚 why I stopped talking,鈥� Ortiz said. 鈥淭hose things made me feel trapped, insecure and everything. I thought I could talk to someone, then that happened.鈥�

In fifth grade, intervention efforts were short-lived because there wasn鈥檛 enough extra staff support, Ortiz said, adding that she didn鈥檛 receive her first paraeducator until sixth grade and, even then, she spent most of her middle school career without a special education teacher.

By seventh grade, Ortiz recalled that principals said they 鈥渟hared custody鈥� of her because she spent more time in the front office than a classroom.

鈥淚nstead of sending her to class, the principal had her with her all the time,鈥� the paraeducator told the CT Mirror.

That year, Ortiz was in a classroom 鈥渘ot a lot, maybe four times,鈥� she said.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit at the end of Ortiz鈥檚 eighth-grade year.

Throughout the summer, preparing for high school, Ortiz went to local libraries and tried to use picture books to teach herself how to read. When she wasn鈥檛 successful, she got through online learning during her freshman year with Google Translate, which can scan a photo and read the text out loud.

鈥淭he way I did assignments was very difficult. When I was given something to read or write, I would use Google,鈥� Ortiz said. 鈥淚f the teacher said 鈥楢leysha, can you read this aloud?鈥� 鈥� I would turn my computer off and pretend like it died, so I didn鈥檛 have to read it. 鈥� Or with the camera off, I would repeat [what the translate app said]. That鈥檚 literally how I survived ninth grade.鈥�

Sophomore year changed everything.

It was Ortiz鈥檚 鈥渇irst time doing the same work as everybody else,鈥� she said.

鈥淚 love learning because I never had the opportunity to learn. People be like, 鈥楢leysha, why do you like to go to school all the time?鈥� And it鈥檚 because it鈥檚 something new 鈥� the amount of times I did the same thing over and over, it鈥檚 crazy,鈥� Ortiz said. 鈥淪ometimes I do complain, because we learn something new every day and it鈥檚 hard to get it, but it鈥檚 better than doing the same thing every day.鈥�

Small wins in the classroom built her confidence enough that it allowed her to open up to trusted adults in positions she once felt betrayed by in elementary school. As more people learned her story, a team of staff members gathered behind her and pushed for more services, intervention and support her junior and senior year.

But by then, she was always told any intervention was 鈥渢oo late.鈥�

鈥淪ince [my junior year], I told my case manager, I want to learn how to write, and she鈥檇 tell me, 鈥業n college, they don鈥檛 do that. They go in there, record and leave, they do the same thing you do,’鈥� Ortiz said. 鈥淚鈥檇 say 鈥榊eah, but I still want to know how to write. It鈥檚 my right. I wanted to learn,鈥� but [I was told] there wasn鈥檛 time, and there weren鈥檛 teachers to sit down and teach me.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of students, and unfortunately, there鈥檚 situations like Aleysha, where she has a village behind her, advocating, pushing 鈥� and [proper services] still [were] not happening,鈥� the social worker said.

A district鈥檚 failure

Ortiz has recorded more than 700 audio files on her phone.

In her last four months in the public school system, more than a dozen of those audio recordings were either PPT meetings, requests for disability testing or administrators reviewing the results of Ortiz鈥檚 academic progress with her.

The conversations were often riddled with , with several instances of people speaking over one another or Ortiz leaving the room in tears.

鈥淭here was a lot of pushback stating that [the district doesn鈥檛] provide that at the high school level, that they would need to get creative in how they could provide these services to her, and there was always kind of a lingering talk of something would be done, but there was never anything proactive being done,鈥� the social worker said.

Meetings particularly ramped up as Ortiz got closer to graduation and as she was trying to navigate her transition into higher education.

But it always felt like there wasn鈥檛 enough time for intervention.

鈥淚 feel like right now people are like, 鈥榃ell, she鈥檚 graduating,鈥� and they just move on. They just forget about [what鈥檚 happening to me],鈥� Ortiz said in a PPT meeting on May 29. 鈥淚鈥檝e been asking, I鈥檝e been doing everything for years and years. I sat here for 12 years. And right now it鈥檚 like 鈥榃ell 鈥� we should have done this 鈥� but we didn鈥檛.’鈥�

One point of contention centered around school-based occupational therapy.

For years, Ortiz had complained of pain in her hand and an inability to hold a pencil for longer than a few minutes. In March, Ortiz鈥檚 case manager agreed to consult with an occupational therapist to see what recommendations they had.

But by May 29, district officials declined to have a formal occupational therapy evaluation.

In an emailed statement to the CT Mirror, a spokesperson from Hartford Public Schools said, 鈥淚f there is no relevant data to support a request for an evaluation, a PPT can determine that a particular type of evaluation is not appropriate at that time.鈥�

鈥淭he purpose is to be able to function in a school environment, which Aleysha has been able to do,鈥� a district official said at the May 29 PPT, despite protests from teachers and school staff that Ortiz is only able to perform in a school environment with 鈥渋ncredible difficulty.鈥�

At the meeting, district officials recommended that Ortiz type assignments on a computer going forward.

鈥淧eople expect me to use a computer for the rest of my life,鈥� Ortiz said.

The underlying concern in all the meetings, in addition to her inability to write, was also the lack of progress in her reading ability.

Ortiz and other staff members repeatedly requested dyslexia testing with the notion that, if she couldn鈥檛 receive intervention, then at least having the diagnosis could open the door to more resources after high school.

Those requests were declined by administrators, who instead reviewed previous data, then completed a series of comprehensive testing to 鈥渒now exactly where we鈥檙e at in instruction,鈥� Trenchard said at a meeting on June 13.

In May, Trenchard, the district鈥檚 special education administrator, began to review Ortiz鈥檚 case. When she went over reading results that were conducted earlier in the school year, she called them 鈥渟urprising.鈥�

鈥淸The scores] are low low, like they were surprising to me. It would make sense that reading is hard for you, but it looks like things pretty much across the board are hard,鈥� Trenchard said at a meeting on May 20. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know how to [read, write or do math] because nobody ever taught you. 鈥� I wish we met each other earlier 鈥� because it bothers me to hear about it and to just see that for years what was missing.鈥�

Trenchard, at a meeting on May 29, said Ortiz鈥檚 difficulties in , which are the processes of using letter/sound knowledge to write and read words in a text, could be 鈥渟ymptomatic of dyslexia鈥� but could also be 鈥渟ymptomatic of not having received instruction.鈥�

鈥淎nd in my review of Aleysha鈥檚 IEPs, she was never provided reading instruction,鈥� Trenchard said, adding that she didn鈥檛 believe Ortiz was dyslexic because 鈥渢here are many missing pieces toward even leaning toward that diagnosis.鈥�

Spencer, however, argues that the district violated its legal obligation to provide dyslexia testing because there was a reasonable belief that it could have been an issue.

鈥淚f she was showing no reading issues, and all the testing showed she was fine, and she was on grade level, and she just wanted to get the testing 鈥� then they could have an argument,鈥� Spencer said. 鈥淏ut, when it鈥檚 a suspected area, it must be tested. 鈥� There鈥檚 no way a reasonable person would have overlooked this.鈥�

Ortiz received a comprehensive reading evaluation on June 6 and scored 鈥渧ery poor鈥� in every category. Ortiz needed to be taught every reading and spelling skill, according to the test results.

And beyond failing to provide basic education, the district may have also failed to provide an appropriate IEP, and with the limited accommodations that were written, they were not consistently implemented or provided, Trenchard said in one of the recordings.

At Ortiz鈥檚 last PPT meeting on June 14, just two days before graduation, district officials recommended that she defer her diploma and take 100 hours of reading intervention over the summer at the district鈥檚 central office.

Without speaking to Ortiz鈥檚 case, Hartford Public Schools told the CT Mirror that recommendations are made 鈥渙n an individualized basis by the student鈥檚 PPT,鈥� and that a student鈥檚 exit criteria could be reviewed or revised 鈥渦p to and including the day of graduation if necessary.鈥�

Ortiz and several of her teachers shared a hesitancy about the deferment plan, especially in regards to uncertainty from the district about who would provide direct instruction to Ortiz if she stayed back amid millions of dollars of budget cuts in the upcoming school year.

鈥淭he bigger question is who is doing this? 鈥� As of right now, we are working with very minimal staffing, and our special ed staff is doing everything they can, but there鈥檚 no one here,鈥� a teacher at the PPT meeting said.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 require me not to take my diploma and expect me to go along with whatever you say, knowing damn well we don鈥檛 have the people here,鈥� Ortiz said at the meeting. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e saying we have the teachers training, we have the people here 鈥� where are they? If they are here, and they are training, where are they?鈥�

Ortiz was also set to begin a mandatory transition to college program at UConn that ran from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. throughout the summer. The district did not provide any further accommodations or compromise for reading intervention, according to the audio recording of the meeting.

Ortiz ultimately decided to accept her diploma. By the time she had graduated from Hartford Public Schools, she hadn鈥檛 been tested for dyslexia and had never received reading intervention.

Systemic shortfalls

At the same time that Ortiz, her advocates and district leaders met about additional accommodations and intervention services, the district also announced a looming  for the upcoming school year.

 200 special education teachers, 360 paraeducators and 150 counselors, social workers and school psychologists were employed across the district鈥檚 schools in 2022-23.

At Hartford Public High School, which Ortiz attended, there were 21 special education teachers, 19 paras and about 15 social workers, counselors and school psychologists in . With over 109 students with disabilities enrolled at the school, social workers could be assigned dozens of cases.

鈥淎t the end of the 2022-23 school year, we were short-staffed multiple social workers in the building. Myself, alone, was required to service 50 or more students,鈥� said Ortiz鈥檚 former social worker, who added that she ultimately left the district because of the workload.

鈥淸A big part of why I left] comes down to not being able to fully provide children with what they need, and becoming a part of the failure,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was part of that team of service providers who didn鈥檛 always meet Aleysha where she needed perfectly every month. 鈥� There were times I wouldn鈥檛 see her for two weeks. 鈥� It wasn鈥檛 fair to her, but due to the system of the school and the district, we did the best we could, but that鈥檚 not the answer we should be giving, especially for students like Aleysha.鈥�

Ortiz was assigned a handful of different social workers during her time at Hartford Public High School because of staffing turnover, the social worker said.

鈥淭here鈥檚 plenty of students who are kind of slipping through the cracks,鈥� she added.

When asked about student-teacher ratios in special education, Hartford Public Schools said 鈥渃aseloads are specific to each school,鈥� and depends on 鈥渆ach PPT according to each student鈥檚 individualized needs.鈥�

With the expiration of federal COVID-19 relief funds in September, the district cut school staff by 8% by eliminating 229 roles, a majority of which were temporary or non-certified employees like social workers, paraeducators, resource teachers, student engagement specialists and family community school support providers who were hired during the pandemic.

Hartford Public Schools, after its final budget passed in July, lost a total of about 30 counselors, psychologists and social workers.

A spokesperson from the district said that paraeducator staffing has increased from 457 in 2023-24 to 460 in 2024-25, with an increase of 44 special education para positions and a decrease of 41 in all other para positions.

Despite the increase, school staff and education stakeholders say they still anticipate drawbacks in the classroom, including a growing difficulty to provide individualized services and larger classroom sizes for already struggling teachers.

Staffing levels at schools are 鈥渄isconcerting,鈥� Spencer said.

鈥淭hey were bad before COVID, but they are really bad right now,鈥� Spencer said. 鈥淪chools are not implementing IEPs, are not identifying children, they鈥檙e not providing the staff that are required, and it is a real crisis.鈥�

A spokesperson from Hartford Public Schools said that 鈥渟taff turnover for any position causes a ripple effect for schools, not just special education.鈥�

鈥淗artford Public Schools is actively working to fill special education vacancies via targeted approaches such as building partnerships with universities, cultivating internal pathways for paraeducators interested in becoming teachers, utilizing social media and attending job fairs,鈥� the spokesperson said.

A  from the state Department of Education showed the problem is not just in Hartford but that school staffing shortages are occurring across the state.

Ortiz was front and center in funding advocacy her senior year through letters to the city council, , state Department of Education and a senior capstone project titled 鈥淪pecial Education: A systemic failure.鈥�

鈥淚 should have had the help of a special education teacher, a paraprofessional, lessons designed to meet me where I was and challenge me, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. I felt like [no one] cared about my future, because I didn鈥檛 receive those supports. I now realize that this was due to a lack of funding and the inability to keep good teachers and staff,鈥� Ortiz wrote to state legislators.

Ortiz told the CT Mirror that she shared her story so her experience doesn鈥檛 repeat in other children.

鈥淚t鈥檚 knowing that more kids are falling through the cracks of the system, and we are still making it seem like everything鈥檚 great, that we鈥檙e doing better for the next generation, and I always ask 鈥榃hen?’鈥� Ortiz said. 鈥淭he amount of times I would try to look for stories that can relate to me, so I could be like 鈥極K, I鈥檓 not the only one.鈥� I would try to do that, I would Google people that went to college and did not know how to read. I couldn鈥檛 find anyone. 鈥� So maybe if I am the first, and I know I鈥檓 not, maybe people can be like, 鈥楾hat person made it.’ 鈥�

When parents learn their child has a developmental disability, they often have questions about what their child may or may not be able to do.

Children with developmental disabilities, such as Down syndrome, often have challenges and delays in language development. And for some families, one of these questions may be: 鈥淲ill speaking two languages be detrimental to their development?鈥�

However, studies consistently demonstrate exposure to an additional language, including a minority language, . This highlights the importance of giving children the opportunity to become bilingual.

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Many parents feel speaking one language would be easier than two. Some may feel for a child with a developmental disability. This is a belief which is also sometimes held by teachers and clinicians who may be consulted on their view towards bilingual exposure.

With good intentions, paediatricians, speech鈥搇anguage therapists, teachers or social workers to avoid using a heritage or minority language in the home, as children will also be exposed to the majority community language.

Research also shows children with disabilities may have in a second language.

However, bilingualism is possible for children with developmental disabilities, as our research on children learning both Welsh and English shows. Children who are able to access bilingual provisions may also benefit. In fact, research shows bilingualism may have a .

Bilingualism in Wales

The most recent census data for England and Wales suggests from 19% in 2011 to 17.8% in 2021. The largest decline was in those aged between 5 and 15 years old.

While these latest figures are unexpected and , the age group with the highest percentage of Welsh speakers was also children between the ages of 5 and 15. This gives a promising outlook for the future of the Welsh language.

Crucially, converging evidence shows bilingualism does not cause .

Parents may have reservations about Welsh-medium education if they do not speak Welsh themselves, for example. Parents of autistic children or children with developmental disabilities may have further reservations still.

Once again though, studies show for these groups either. This includes children with more

Why parents should embrace bilingualism

Regarding children with Down syndrome, . Indeed, our research suggests families should embrace bilingualism. We recruited children with Down syndrome alongside typically developing children who were either acquiring only English, or were exposed to both English and Welsh. These children completed a range of specialist tasks to assess their cognitive and language skills.

We found Welsh-English bilingual children with Down syndrome had comparable English skills in important language areas to children with Down syndrome who had only been exposed to English.

Meanwhile, the bilingual children were also developing skills in their additional language. Those also acquiring Welsh had similar abilities in that language as younger children without Down syndrome, who were at the same level of development.

Children with Down syndrome should therefore be supported in accessing similar educational provisions as more typically developing children. In the context of Wales, this could mean accessing Welsh-medium schools or being included in second language classes.

In Wales, parents can opt for their children to receive Welsh-medium education, regardless of their home language. Children who receive Welsh education can flourish if they have access to bilingual education.

Research on typically developing bilingual children and adults suggests there may be other . These include better mental skills, creativity and even the possibility of being , such as Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.

Being bilingual opens up a range of opportunities such as , and .

Research shows some of these benefits, such as enhanced thinking skills, .

Giving children the opportunity to develop abilities in two languages also enables them to be able to choose what language they want to communicate in. It may also make them feel connected to their community.

These findings challenge the view that bilingualism is detrimental to children鈥檚 development. In contrast, including children with developmental disabilities in bilingual provisions gives them the chance to blossom alongside their typically developing peers.

As a result, families should feel empowered to reach informed decisions for themselves by considering the potential opportunities being bilingual may provide.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

In July 2022, Stechuk was part of the UnidosUS team that conducted parent focus groups at its affiliate , which promotes school readiness for Latino children, in San Antonio, Texas. The parents whose children were receiving speech therapy described how therapists instructed them to use English only at home. One mother of a child with a hearing disability reported being told: 鈥淭ry speaking to him in English. Don鈥檛 bring in any Spanish right now鈥�. You don鈥檛 want to confuse him since he鈥檚 just starting to hear.鈥�

Late last year, Stechuk and colleagues presented these findings at a session of the National Head Start Association Parent and Family Engagement Conference. They asked participants if speech therapists or other professionals had told them that growing up with two languages is 鈥渃onfusing鈥� for children, and the response was immediate. 鈥淎t least a dozen hands went up,鈥� he recalls, and many personal stories came out.

鈥淪ome schools or early intervention personnel are still treating bilingualism as some kind of problem or disability,鈥� Stechuk says.

UnidosUS鈥檚 recently published captures many more of these miscues, identifying three counterproductive myths that persist in spite of research that鈥檚 been around for decades:

• Myth #1: Young children can be 鈥渃onfused鈥� by more than one language
• Myth #2: Multiple languages may compete with each other in the child鈥檚 brain
• Myth #3: Latino children with disabilities are 鈥渂etter off鈥� if parents stop speaking Spanish in favor of speaking English.

When therapists offer misguided advice, Stechuk explains, there鈥檚 a danger that Latino families will question their own experience, possibly curtailing their interactions with their young children. Three out of four of these parents who participated in the UnidosUS focus groups, he says, are reading to their children on a daily basis, making time for this activity even when juggling multiple jobs and responsibilities. The therapists鈥� advice to stop speaking Spanish could actually undermine the communication skills it is intended to help.

鈥淪hining a light on these issues is an important part of advancing a Prenatal to 3 movement of Latinx/a/o communities鈥� says Amilcar Guzm谩n of the , which supports the work of UnidosUS. 鈥淐apturing the voices of Latina parents is central to creating the supports necessary to enhance the lives of historically underinvested communities.鈥�

Both/And

鈥淟atino families recognize the long-term benefits of bilingualism,鈥� Stechuk says.聽 鈥淭he heritage language is an asset children can draw upon throughout their lives.鈥� Code switching, part of that, is widely understood as an effective communication strategy.

This is also the official position of (ASHA), which 鈥渁s a normal phenomenon engaged in by many fluent bilingual speakers.鈥� A definitive text the ASHA cites, , states unequivocally: 鈥淭his is not to be considered indicative of a language disorder.鈥�

Evidently, however, at least some of ASHA鈥檚 223,000 members and affiliates 鈥� audiologists and speech-language pathologists as well as the scientists and students who research how humans communicate 鈥� aren鈥檛 getting the message. The question is how to make sure that more professionals make better use of the brain science behind bilingualism.

鈥淎SHA recognizes multilingualism as an asset,鈥� says Megan-Brette Hamilton, chief staff officer for multicultural affairs at the organization. 鈥淚t also recognizes that all children, with and without communication disorders, can become multilingual communicators in supportive, language-rich environments.鈥� Hamilton adds that while many children are learning and speaking English in their educational settings, they still need to be able to communicate with their family and community and maintain a connection to their cultural-linguistic heritage.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not an 鈥榚ither/or鈥�; it鈥檚 a 鈥榖oth/and.鈥欌��

Hamilton says the association advocates for an additive view of bi/multilingualism, and many clinicians partner with bilingual service providers or interpreters/culture brokers so both English and a child鈥檚 heritage language are supported in service delivery. 鈥淎SHA also makes it a point to provide its members with professional education that assures they consider and use current evidence-based practices that address and promote all languages of exposure.鈥�

Stechuk notes that engaging colleges and universities who train speech language therapists, to make sure all early intervention practitioners take the evidence into account, is also a critical next step.

Difference vs. Disorder

Viorica Marian, professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northwestern University and author of the forthcoming , says the research suggests that bilingualism confers all sorts of advantages. 鈥淯pper and upper-middle-class families view it as an asset,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut the nice thing is that everyone can reap the benefits of bilingualism.鈥�

She contends that the English-only advice that many specialists dispense 鈥渋s about bias, not data鈥� and a misunderstanding of 鈥渄ifference鈥� versus 鈥渄isorder.鈥� Just because people do things differently from us doesn鈥檛 mean they鈥檙e doing them wrong. In fact, we monolinguals might have something to learn. Marian鈥檚 includes these facts in a section on聽“What Clinicians Should Know”:

• Bilingual children develop an earlier understanding of taxonomic relationships than their monolingual peers (e.g., car and bus are vehicles).
• Linguistic input co-activates both languages in bilinguals; when bilinguals hear or read words in one language, partially overlapping linguistic structures in the other language also are activated.
• Bilinguals have greater gray matter density than monolinguals in certain left hemisphere regions.

鈥淚f the brain is an engine,鈥� she wrote in a , 鈥渂ilingualism may help to improve its mileage, allowing it to go further on the same amount of fuel.鈥�

Confusion about Linguistic Confusion

Children manifest learning and speech disabilities regardless of bilingualism, says Fred Genesee, professor emeritus of psychology at McGill University. 鈥淏ilingualism doesn鈥檛 exacerbate disabilities, and it doesn鈥檛 make the impairments better, either.鈥�

Genesee聽has also been researching bilingualism for decades. He traces the origins of the bias toward monolingualism to longstanding nationalistic, xenophobic beliefs and to flawed academic methods, specifically citing the German linguist Werner Leopold, who wrote about his own daughters鈥� linguistic confusion in the 1940s. (.)

鈥淚t鈥檚 unlikely the brain is so limited,鈥� Genesee says, noting that subsequent research has found that even newborns can distinguish between two languages, based on the rhythmic pattern (also known as prosody). His (2015) maintains, 鈥淐hildren who acquire two languages from birth achieve the same fundamental milestones in language development with respect to babbling, first words and emergence of word combinations as monolingual children within the same time frame despite the fact that they have less exposure, on average, to each language than monolinguals.鈥�

Artificial restrictions on bilingualism, Genesee says, can jeopardize parent-child relationships as well as the neurocognitive benefits of rich language exposure or what he calls 鈥渧itamins and minerals for the brain.鈥� Language is a key component of culture, literacy, communication, among other nutrients a young mind needs.

鈥淭he heritage language,鈥� Genesee says, 鈥渋s a part of who they are.鈥�

Lim, an education technology entrepreneur and TED Fellow, watched as her mother would answer questions every day about how to support their child鈥檚 learning, parent-teacher conferences and cultural barriers around school jargon.

Growing up in an immigrant family, Lim resonated with their struggles and later explored solutions to family-school partnerships as the founder and CEO of , a communication app that helps multilingual and underserved families connect with their child鈥檚 teachers.

鈥淓ducation is one of the biggest issues we need to solve in this country,鈥� Lim tells 社区黑料. 鈥淎nd how can we solve this through technology?鈥�

TalkingPoints has supported more than 600 schools and districts 鈥� over 3 million families and teachers, where 70% of students served are students of color and 89% come from Title I schools.

Lim delved into this further at the conference during her TED Talk: 鈥�.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e playing the role my mom had for the school and my friends鈥� families 鈥� the communicator, the explainer, the coach, the translator and the go-between,鈥� Lim said in her TED Talk. 鈥淲hen teachers and families work together everyone wins.鈥�

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

社区黑料: What key takeaways would you want someone watching your TED Talk to understand about you and TalkingPoints?

I think the biggest takeaway about me is that my personal background drives a lot of the talking points in my TED Talk. I鈥檓 Korean and moved to England when I was eight. My mom became that communicator, translator and go-between in the public elementary school I went to. I saw the impact that had on me and my sister’s education, so I think a lot about that when it comes to family-school partnerships as the central driver of student success. 

But it鈥檚 not just the experience of myself. Research really shows that when families and schools partner with each other and build relationships that are meaningful and collaborative, that really drives student learning and well being. 

社区黑料: How does it feel to be the only education leader selected as part of the class of 2022 TED Fellows Program?

I’m really excited and inspired to be part of this program and to talk about the state of education in the U.S., especially when it comes to highlighting the mass media鈥檚 view around education, the achievement gap and the potential of families driving student success. I’m also excited to have this platform to bring to life the research we have at TalkingPoints. You might have seen in my TED Talk about the 40 million children that come from under-resourced and/or immigrant families. People gasped at that number as well as the two year achievement gap and the trillion dollars lost in the economy.

I think education is one of the biggest issues we need to solve in this country, and we haven’t found the silver bullet to the learning and opportunity gap. COVID-19 really exacerbated it and there’s a long way to go. With the leaders in the TED community, we鈥檙e able to connect with others also trying to solve these complex social problems.

社区黑料: You mentioned how COVID-19 exacerbated the learning and opportunity gap for students. Did COVID-19 have an impact on TalkingPoints ability to tackle this?

When COVID-19 hit us in March 2020, we actually saw a 20x increase in communication volume. Within the span of three to six months, we saw a fixed increase in the number of families that we were reaching. And all the school districts that we were partnering with started reaching out saying that they needed TalkingPoints for the entire school district instead of just a subset of students. 

We also did a research report that said family-school partnerships was more important than ever during COVID-19 to drive student learning and well being. It was a silver lining moment for us in terms of how we can serve these communities and really get TalkingPoints in the hands of many more school districts and families who need it. But more importantly, it highlights how family-school partnerships continue to be a critical component to student learning.

社区黑料: Tell me more about TalkingPoints growth. How have languages expanded since the organization was founded?

In terms of languages, we started off with around 20. Now we鈥檙e offering translations in more than 125 languages with support from real human translators for instant translations. We also include dialects that are not supported by other apps, like Dari which is a language spoken in Afghanistan, Odia which is an Indian dialect, Kata which is a Russian dialect and Uyghur which is spoken in a region of China. 

We have also piloted a language for Cape Verdean Creole. We’re the only organization to support a language like that. Boston Public Schools were really excited about it because they have a significant Cape Verdean population and have been really struggling to support that set of families and students in the past. We’ve really expanded and plan to expand even further down the line.

社区黑料: What would you say has been the most impactful story you鈥檝e heard from someone that uses TalkingPoints?

So we had a teacher based in Georgia. She鈥檚 an elementary school teacher and she’s taught in the same elementary school for more than 10 years. She used to teach kindergarten three years ago, but last year she started teaching third grade. Because of this, she ended up teaching the same kid that she used to teach in kindergarten. She wrote to us specifically to say that the mother of the student, who is a Spanish speaking student, has never felt so included in their school community after using TalkingPoints. 

If you think about it, this is a natural A/B experiment so to speak. It’s the same school, the same teacher, the same student and the same family. This is a really special story because we can attribute the impact of TalkingPoints specifically to this before and after story. It鈥檚 really, really touching and amazing. And the fact that the teacher specifically wrote to us to tell us that at the request of the mother is also special. That’s one story I love sharing.

社区黑料: What does the future look like for TalkingPoints? For instance, do you see TalkingPoints delving into other ways to engage and connect families?

I think there鈥檚 a couple of things to know. We’re already working on a lot of exciting things around in-house research to see what the impact of TalkingPoints has on student outcomes. For example, we have research coming up that actually shows a direct-causal relationship to engage families around improving student achievement, grades across subjects, attendance and student discipline. I’m really excited to share that. 

We’ve also been working on making sure that the family-school connections are equitable and accessible to all. TalkingPoints is open to all adults who support student learning within a school system 鈥� including teachers, counselors, bus drivers, coaches and psychologists, so a student’s full learning team can engage with families regularly. 

We also have reading flags whenever a teacher is writing above a fifth grade reading level. We offer suggestions to simplify so parents can understand them better. We also have tools for families to demystify education terms, like Individualized Education Program (IEP) or parent-teacher conferences. Like what are they and why are they important? As well as allowing families to engage with their teachers via video with closed captions translated. 

So I guess the reason I bring this all up relates directly to the future of TalkingPoints. We are on a mission to systematically remove the barriers to family-school partnerships. We are looking to develop a next generation platform that gives coaching and support to teachers, school administrators and families to talk to each other in a positive, connecting way.

社区黑料: As a Korean immigrant, what does it mean to you to be a part of the education technology space?

My personal experience and identity really drives the way that I think about the role of education technology as a tool. It can really unlock behaviors and thoughts that schools and families can have to drive student success. But it has to come from an inclusive, accessible and equitable lens. The way that education technology is designed, thought about, used and implemented can be a make or break moment. If done well, there’s incredible potential to improve student success. But if not, it can further widen the learning loss gap we鈥檝e seen from COVID-19. 

As a Korean immigrant, I think a lot about product development and education technology that is inclusive, accessible and caters to the needs of under-resourced and immigrant students and families. That goes not just for me but a lot of our TalkingPoints team. They鈥檝e grown up as English language learners, come from immigrant families, are first generation college goers and have taught in the classroom. Our team really understands the communities we serve and how we think about our vision to further support them.

Typically, about experience a developmental delay. But children born during the pandemic, a 2022 study has found, have of developmental delays in communication and social development compared to babies born prior to the pandemic.

The reason, some researchers believe, is related to , among other factors.

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Delays in communication can mean a child learns to talk later, talks less or uses gestures like pointing instead of talking. Social developmental delays might be present when a child doesn鈥檛 respond to their name when called, doesn鈥檛 look at what adults are paying attention to in the environment, or doesn鈥檛 play with other children or with trusted adults.

It鈥檚 hard to say if children who suffer from these delays can be caught up or if they will require continued services or special education into elementary school and beyond. The more severe the delay, the more likely the child will need ongoing specialized services.

One way to be more certain is to talk to your child鈥檚 pediatrician about whether your child is meeting certain developmental benchmarks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, also recommends that parents contact their state鈥檚 and say, 鈥淚 have concerns about my child鈥檚 development, and I would like to have my child evaluated to find out if he/she is eligible for early intervention services.鈥�

In the meantime, parents and early childhood teachers can support language development for children who may suffer from delays by providing rich, responsive interactions and conversations.

As a who specializes in language and literacy skills for young children with learning disabilities, here I offer five evidence-based strategies that parents and teachers of children with pandemic-related developmental delays can use to support the growth of their child鈥檚 language skills and later school performance.

1. Get children talking

Language is how we share experiences. However, children with developmental delays may not talk very much. Adults can , which helps children develop the ability to communicate and interact with others.

One way to do this is to create situations in which the child has to talk to get something they want. For example, at home, put a favorite toy or snack in a clear sealed bag or plastic container so the child can see the item but cannot get it themselves without asking for help. At preschool or day care during snack time or free play, provide the student with two choices and have them say which choice they want. For children whose speech is hard to understand, any noise or attempt at talking is a good sign. The important part is that they are trying to talk, not that the words come out perfectly. If the child鈥檚 speech is unintelligible, have them point and talk at the same time to show their choice.

2. Expand on children鈥檚 speech

Providing is critical for supporting the language development of children with developmental delays.

One way to provide rich language is by responding to what the child says and then adding on details or adjectives. For example, if a young child sees a dog and exclaims, 鈥淒oggy!鈥�, an adult could expand on that speech by saying, 鈥淵es! There鈥檚 a big brown dog.鈥� The adult is acknowledging what the child said and providing more language for the child to hear and respond to while sharing the experience of seeing a dog.

3. Be a warm and attentive conversation partner

When adults provide warm, supportive interactions, children go on to have , better vocabulary and reading ability in first grade, and better mathematics performance in third grade.

Being a supportive partner means . For example, play with toys the child chose or enact pretend scenarios the child came up with. During conversation, talk directly to the child about a topic the child chose and take turns talking. Don鈥檛 worry about correcting the child or guiding the interaction. It鈥檚 OK if you鈥檝e talked about the dog across the street a thousand times. Each interaction builds language skills. Stay positive and engaged.

4. Share a book

Shared book reading is a technique where the adult actively involves the child in the storytelling experience. Children who participate in frequent shared book reading have larger vocabularies, use more complex language and have .

Start by asking open-ended questions like, 鈥淲hat do you think will happen next?鈥� Talk to the child about their real-life experiences similar to the book, like, 鈥淩emember when we went to the park? What did we do there?鈥�

Point out words and letters while reading aloud to help children develop their awareness of print. Talk about interesting words in the story and define new words. Children often like to read the same book over and over, so there will be many opportunities to use these strategies during story time. Don鈥檛 worry about using them all at once.

5. Talk about words

Help children develop a better awareness of the connection between words and how they sound. This is an important skill that .

Clap or count syllables in words, such as 鈥渃upcake鈥� or 鈥渂utterfly.鈥� Tell nursery rhymes and have the child say which words rhyme or come up with other words that rhyme. Talk about the sounds you hear at the beginning or end of words, such as the 鈥渢鈥� sound in 鈥渢iger鈥� or the 鈥渕鈥� in 鈥渞oom.鈥� Children are slowly learning that spoken language is made up of words and sounds that can be represented by written letters. This knowledge is the gateway for learning to read and write.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

This dearth of dads in language learning needs to change, says Dr. Naja Ferjan Ram铆rez, director of the University of Washington鈥檚 Language Development and Processing Laboratory. But just knowing that things need to change doesn鈥檛 mean it will be easy.

Infant directed speech refers to the聽high-pitched, singsong, slowed-down way adults talk to babies聽that signals to them that 鈥淭his conversation is for 测辞耻.鈥� Sometimes called 鈥減arentese,鈥� it typically involves eye contact, interactive play and shared attention. Researchers agree that children鈥檚 language development is a social process; it takes place within the web of relationships and interactions that make up the child鈥檚 daily experience. Adults talking specifically to babies in this context communicate affect 鈥� how they turn their heads, widen their eyes, smile, wait for a response 鈥� and engage the infant鈥檚 attention, facilitating both social interaction and language learning.

Though research over several decades has focused largely on the contributions of mothers, a quick scan of family dynamics in the U.S. makes it clear that there鈥檚 more to the story. Women鈥檚 careers have expanded, and fathers have become more directly involved in their babies鈥� upbringing. With the pandemic, those demographic changes that were accelerated in many families, profoundly shifted mothers鈥� and fathers鈥� interactions within the family structure.

鈥淚n many families, due to the pandemic, dad鈥檚 job ended up being more flexible than mom鈥檚, or for whatever reason (sometimes COVID-induced unemployment), fathers were home, in some cases more than mothers,鈥� says Ferjan Ram铆rez. 鈥淔or some families, that was a huge shift. Not for everybody, certainly, because we know women have been affected by the pandemic too. But in many families, there was a dramatic shift in the types of child care responsibilities that dads took on.鈥�

It was an adjustment for families, she says, but also for researchers who had been asking mothers almost exclusively to bring children into their lab appointments.

鈥淚f the dads are going to bring the children in,鈥� she says, 鈥渕aybe we need to rethink the types of activities we鈥檙e asking parents to do with children when we鈥檙e studying them in the lab. Maybe we shouldn鈥檛 ask everyone to sit on the floor and read a book but should include some things the dads like to do. Why not study their language interaction during rough and tumble play or soccer, for example? Nobody has done that in the past, but we should because we really don鈥檛 know what happens.鈥�

Fathers Have Their Own Way with Words

Including fathers in the research is essential not only because they are central to children鈥檚 web of social relationships, but also because fathers bring unique characteristics to IDS. Studies have observed that fathers use a higher number of rare words and fewer common words than mothers. Though fathers typically use fewer words with their infants, their speech is more diverse and more challenging to the child. Recent studies have found that fathers used significantly more wh-words (why? what?), asked more questions and asked for clarification more often than mothers. Posing wh-questions elicits a verbal response from the child which researchers believe helps foster their reasoning abilities in addition to building vocabulary.

Other studies have found that fathers鈥� use of such diverse speech was a unique predictor of their children鈥檚 overall language at 24 months and one study observed that in an economically and culturally diverse sample of families with children from 6 to 36 months, fathers鈥� use of wh-questions during book reading was significantly associated with children鈥檚 vocabulary when they entered kindergarten.

None of this is to say that fathers鈥� IDS is superior to that of mothers, but that their approach to their infants鈥� language learning matters and ought to be considered in the research. That may sound like a foregone conclusion, but as Ram铆rez points out, it鈥檚 complicated, starting with LENA (Language Environment Analysis), the recording device that captures and analyzes conversations between babies and their caregivers. Analyzing recordings from children鈥檚 ordinary interactions with all the caregivers in their lives, LENA鈥檚 software analyzes the number of words spoken by women and those spoken by men. One large study reported that mothers accounted for 75% of adult words spoken around children from 2 to 48 months. However, follow-up research assessing LENA鈥檚 reliability found that when male speakers used a higher pitch to address their infants, they were more likely to be wrongly tagged as female.

Because multiple studies have noted this error, researchers looking to distinguish mothers鈥� and fathers鈥� speech are encouraged to supplement LENA with manual annotations 鈥� a process Ram铆rez points out is slow, labor-intensive and expensive.

When researchers did make this adjustment, they found that mothers still verbally interact with their babies up to two times more than fathers do 鈥� a gap that鈥檚 especially pronounced in the baby鈥檚 first six months 鈥� but not 75% as previously reported. Researchers also found that when fathers interact one-on-one with their infants, they engage in equal amounts of IDS as mothers, but when mother comes into the picture, fathers speak significantly less. Some researchers propose that mothers act as 鈥済atekeepers鈥� and automatically assume the more active role with their babies or that fathers feel less responsible for holding up their end of the conversation when mom is present. Either way, the more accurate measurement of of IDS fathers鈥� engagement underscores that infants learn language within a social construct, and scientific research into parents鈥� effect on language development needs to acknowledge these complexities, Ram铆rez says.

鈥淚f you understand that mom takes over the conversation when she鈥檚 around,鈥� she says, 鈥渋t will be important in research to make sure we sometimes study dads without mothers present, as well as studying the triadic interactions of mother, father, child.鈥�

New Approaches Needed

If fathers are to be included in language-learning research, she says, studies must be set up differently. In North America, where paternity leave is still an outlier, fathers may not be as free to come to the lab during weekday daytime hours, so labs will need to extend their hours to accommodate their different schedules. Labs also need to consider fathers鈥� different behavioral styles, she says. Studies have shown that fathers tend to engage in more energetic, playful, stimulating physical interactions with their children than the mother鈥檚 鈥渟moother,鈥� more flowing interaction.

鈥淢y husband would prefer to bounce a ball with our kids, while I might prefer to read,鈥� Ram铆rez says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not a bad thing, it鈥檚 just different styles. But what that means is that it鈥檚 not as simple as, 鈥楬ey, let鈥檚 invite the dads to the labs.鈥� We really have to rethink how we鈥檙e going to do this so dads feel welcome and valued. This means developing new protocols, which shouldn鈥檛 be based on maternal templates alone.

鈥淏ut to develop a protocol for studying language during soccer play, for example, requires extra resources and additional funding, in addition to first having to convince the funders that it鈥檚 necessary from a scientific perspective.鈥�

Ram铆rez has firsthand knowledge of what an uphill battle that鈥檚 likely to be. When she sent out her on fathers鈥� IDS and its influence on language development for peer review, one reviewer鈥檚 comments were, 鈥淲hy do you care about this? Is studying dads really going to make the needle budge? Why are you even writing this paper?鈥�

鈥淭hey eventually reconsidered, and the paper got published,鈥� she said with a laugh. 鈥淏ut comments like this demonstrate that including fathers in research is still not a given in academia.鈥�

Given the dramatic difference fathers鈥� infant-centered speech can make in the child鈥檚 vocabulary building and cognitive development, research must do better if it鈥檚 to adequately reflect contemporary language learning. Further study might reveal significant differences in paternal IDS that current research has not discovered and could lead to coaching sessions and interventions much more finely tuned to how fathers actually interact with their children.

This dearth of research is even truer of families headed by LGBTQ parents and same-sex couples, who are under-represented practically to the point of invisibility in the research. Ram铆rez鈥� will soon launch a study on infant language development in same-sex families, using LENA recordings and eye-tracking to analyze the preference for male vs. female parentese.

鈥淔uture research might consider parent gender as fluid rather than binary,鈥� Ferjan Ram铆rez says, 鈥渁nd that鈥檚 going to require different strategies, more resources and a different approach to recruit and welcome parents to the lab. But until that鈥檚 done, we really can鈥檛 claim to fully understand the role of parents in children鈥檚 language learning.鈥�

Both research teams used the nonprofit LENA鈥檚 to glean their findings. The wearable device delivers detailed information on what children hear throughout the day. It measures the number of words spoken near the child in addition to the child鈥檚 own language-related vocalizations.

It also counts child-adult interactions, called 鈥渃onversational turns,鈥� which both research groups say are critical to language acquisition.

鈥淚t is the conversational turns that drive brain development,鈥� said Brown鈥檚 Sean Deoni, adding he鈥檚 concerned for the long-term success of children born after the pandemic began. 

The joint finding is the latest of discovered when researchers compared babies born before and after COVID. 

Deoni is principal investigator at Brown鈥檚 Advanced Baby Imaging Lab. He and other staffers there first spotted the problem when they noticed that children who visited the lab after March 2020 took longer to complete cognitive tasks.

鈥淭hey were not as attentive, or at least not performing as well as we normally have seen,鈥� Deoni said. It was this change that prompted him to take a new look at various data points gathered from the nearly 800 children his facility has worked with in recent years. After examining their neuroimaging and neurocognitive results, he and his team found child motor and language scores decreased sharply in 2021 and 2022, prompting them to search for an explanation for the decline.

The inquiry led them to analyze information gathered from children ages 12 and 16 months who were born before 2019 鈥� well before the COVID outbreak 鈥� and after July 2020, months into its spread. The results showed a major drop in verbal functioning between the two groups. Those born after COVID demonstrated slower verbal growth over time.

Tests showed, too, these babies experienced a significantly slower rate of white matter聽development versus the children from studies done before the pandemic.

鈥淲hite matter is basically the wiring of the brain,鈥� Deoni said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 what carries information throughout the brain and to different cortical regions where it is processed. White matter damage, for example, is a hallmark of multiple sclerosis. Reduced white matter development is associated with reduced cognitive development.鈥�

Deoni and his team also found a significant drop in adult words per hour and conversational turns between the two groups of children. The deficit will have a significant impact on kids he said, citing his own group鈥檚 earlier research. 

Neither research team focused on the cause of the drop in caregiver interactions with babies, only the outcome, though Deoni cited the heightened stress, depression and burnout associated with the pandemic as possible explanations. 

Jill Gilkerson, a linguist specializing in early language acquisition and LENA鈥檚 chief research and evaluation officer, said the reasons might differ from one household to the next. 

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we are going to be able to find a single cause to point to, and I鈥檓 not sure that we need to,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e hope this data validates concerns caregivers may be having, helps them know they are not alone in those feelings and furthers the conversation about the need to invest in support for families at every level.鈥�

LENA鈥檚 study showed child vocalizations dropped significantly across all groups of children, but particularly among those from the lowest socioeconomic level. The frequency of caregiver/child conversations also decreased dramatically, particularly among children from the poorest families, it found.

鈥淚t鈥檚 often the case that when these adverse events happen, it鈥檚 those who are already the most vulnerable that are hit the hardest鈥� and I think that we are seeing this here,鈥� Gilkerson said.

The connection between economic security and language acquisition was very much a pre-pandemic concern as well. A found that children growing up in low-income households hear 30 million fewer words than their peers from high-income backgrounds. A 2018 study raised questions about the extent of the gap, but the science is clear that children鈥檚 first three years are the most critical time for brain development.

LENA, based in Boulder, Colorado and founded in 2004, aims to improve children鈥檚 futures through early talk technology and data-driven programs. Its software measures a child鈥檚 language environment and provides feedback to parents and professionals vested in preparing them for school.

Its study of 136 COVID-era babies included only those who started gestating on or after the start of the pandemic in mid-March 2020: All were born after December 15 of that year. The findings from this group were compared to a pre-COVID pool, which captured recordings between 2017 and March 2020 and included 494 kids.

These language deficits, once shared with caregivers, are possible to correct. But, Gilkerson said, it鈥檚 important for groups like hers to suggest practical, easily applicable solutions.

鈥淲e need to 鈥� provide parents with strategies for integrating talk 鈥� interactive talk, quality talk 鈥� with their children during their regular routine,鈥� she said, rather than add a new task to their already stress-filled lives.

LENA鈥檚 latest research builds off earlier findings the group published in the journal in October 2018: That study showed early talk and interaction, particularly for children ages 18 to 24 months, can predict school-age language and cognitive outcomes. In that paper, LENA examined day-long audio recordings for 146 infants and toddlers completed monthly for six months.

LENA鈥檚 Language Environment Analysis software measured the total number of adult words and adult-child conversations. LENA conducted follow-up evaluations at 9 to 14 years of age. It concluded that adult-child conversations influence a child鈥檚 IQ, verbal comprehension and vocabulary scores 10 years later.

And while it鈥檚 true, both researchers acknowledged, that children are resilient, recent data does not yet reflect the bounceback from the pandemic.

鈥淲e are not seeing them hit a floor and all progressively get better,鈥� Deoni said. 鈥淲e are seeing them continue this downward trend.鈥�

And it鈥檚 not just a language acquisition problem. Reduced verbal development is being driven by poor motor development, Deoni said: This early foundational skill could have a lasting impact on children, one that can be hard to correct for as they age.

鈥淚鈥檓 worried about how we set things up going forward such that our early childhood teachers and early childhood interventionalists are prepared for what is potentially a set of children who maybe aren鈥檛 performing as we expect them to,鈥� he said.

Turns out, that鈥檚 not necessarily so. According to a recent study, Latinx fathers actually do speak to their infants in 鈥減arentese,鈥� that unique style of speech known and loved by babies everywhere. And that鈥檚 a very good thing, says Dr. Naja Ferjan Ram铆rez, assistant professor in Linguistics at the University of Washington, because such speech supports the babies鈥� language learning and brain building. Mostly, dads don鈥檛 know that.

The importance of speaking with infants in this special way is backed up by a large body of research showing how much impact caregivers鈥� social interactions have on babies鈥� cognitive and linguistic development. In speaking 聽鈥� pitching their voices higher, slowing their speech and exaggerating their intonation 鈥� caregivers emphasize language for babies in a way that tells them, 鈥淭his is for you, I鈥檓 speaking to you,鈥� and elicit the kind of call-and-response 鈥溾�漟eedback loop that鈥檚 the keystone to the child鈥檚 language development.

Recent studies highlight the important role fathers play in their infants鈥� language learning, but Ram铆rez has observed a persistent gap in the literature concerning the contributions of mothers and fathers. That gap is especially notable, she says, when it comes to infants of bilingual and culturally diverse background, such as Latinx babies.

In what Ram铆rez and her fellow researchers believe is the first study comparing the amount of mother and father parentese in a bilingual context, 37 families with bilingual, Latinx infants were set up with special Language Environment Analysis () recording devices. Often referred to as a 鈥渢alk pedometer,鈥� the LENA recording device captures and analyzes the back-and-forth talk among children and their caregivers, without identifying individual words.

Researchers asked the parents to put the devices on their babies on a typical weekend when both parents were home and not working. The device then 鈥渓istened to鈥� and analyzed when language was directed at the child and by whom. Prior to the listening sessions, the researchers surveyed the fathers about how often they performed specific parental responsibilities, such as changing diapers and singing to their children, plus additional questions on language development.

Once the LENA recordings had been analyzed, the results were unequivocal: Every father spoke parentese. Both mothers and fathers spoke directly to the children in Spanish and English; language-mixing was common in both, and all the fathers engaged in the parentese that elicited turn-taking and infant responses.

鈥淚鈥檓 impressed that every single dad in the study used parentese,鈥� says Ram铆rez. 鈥淭his is something we鈥檝e seen in non-Latinx dads and now we鈥檝e observed it in our study of Latinx dads too. The proportion of how much they use parentese varies from family to family, but they all use it.鈥�

Ram铆rez, lead author on the article, 鈥�,鈥� which details this research, has investigated infant language-acquisition for years and has become acutely aware that most research thus far has focused exclusively on mothers. Traditionally, fathers have been considered 鈥渟econdary caregivers鈥� who were less involved in childrearing and often not on the research radar. But the world is changing in countless ways and two of those ways that Ram铆rez has her eye on are the increasing involvement of fathers with their children and the demographic shifts in the U.S. which predict that Latinx families will account for more than 30% of the population by 2050.

鈥淚n some states, like California, more than 50% of the kindergarten classes within the next 10 years is going to be of Latinx descent,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o, we need to expand our understanding of bilingual language acquisition, and we need to develop a better knowledge of the social differences with Latinx families 鈥� if there are stricter gender roles or different attitudes toward the role of father, for example 鈥� so that whatever interventions we design are culturally informed and sensitive.鈥�

鈥淎lso,鈥� she says with a laugh, 鈥淚 have a personal connection to this situation. My husband is Dominican, and I鈥檝e been observing Latinx families from the 鈥榠nside鈥� for years.鈥�

One of her primary observations is that two important cultural beliefs in Latinx culture 鈥� machismo and familismo 鈥� are at odds with each other, particularly when it comes to men鈥檚 interactions with their children. Machismo is the cultural view that values strict gender roles and defines men as being strong, masculine and dominant, encouraging an authoritarian style of parenting and less direct involvement with their babies. Many scholars and members of the Latinx community suggest that this portrayal of Latinx fathers is outdated and inaccurate, but it does persist 鈥� even in the way men sometimes view themselves. However, as Ram铆rez has observed personally and in her research, machismo is trumped again and again by the more-abiding value of familismo, the commitment to family as a source of loyalty, closeness, connection and strength.

鈥淪o, the main message we got from our study is that, yes, these dads are very much involved in and part of their babies鈥� lives,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd they adjust their speech in their interactions with their infants.鈥�

One remarkable, though maybe not completely surprising, aspect of this and other studies of fathers鈥� interaction with their infants is the ratio of speech babies hear from their mothers compared to their fathers. On average, babies hear two to three times more child-directed speech (meaning language directed to the baby rather than just overheard) from women than from men. In this study, Ram铆rez, et al, discovered that infants heard on average 18,545 adult words per day: 11,954 from women and 6,591 from men, or an average of 50.4% fewer words from men. Fathers produced on average 43% less parentese than mothers, and the higher the family鈥檚 income, the more parentese both parents used. The biggest gap between the amount of language babies hear from mothers and fathers is when the infant is the youngest.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not 100% sure why that is,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t may have to do with just the behavioral differences between moms and dads, where dads tend to be more energetic and playful and prefer physical activities little babies can鈥檛 engage in yet. There鈥檚 also a whole literature on the hormonal differences that exist between moms and dads at this age, so there might also be a biological reason for this. Knowing that is really meaningful for me because if I design an intervention, I will want engage fathers when the babies are really little.鈥�

The study also found that infants whose fathers who were more involved in child care responsibilities tended to hear more daddy-talk, though not necessarily more parentese, with one exception: Researchers saw a strong relationship between fathers鈥� use of parentese and their awareness of its importance. The more they know about the difference it makes, the more fathers use infant-directed speech. This positive relationship between use of child-directed speech and the parent鈥檚 knowledge, beliefs and attitudes around child development has been well-documented in English-speaking mothers, but Ram铆rez and her fellow researchers say theirs is the first study they鈥檙e aware of that demonstrates such an association in fathers.

鈥淭his is something I experienced over and over again when I spoke with parents (not just in this study),鈥� she says. 鈥淭he dads will say, 鈥極h, yeah, that鈥檚 how my wife talks, and I don鈥檛 know why. It鈥檚 annoying. I鈥檓 going to talk to my baby like they鈥檙e a grownup because I want them to learn language. Then, when you record them, there it is: Parentese.

鈥淲hen you explain to them what 鈥榯urn-taking鈥� means and how much it matters to their child鈥檚 development, they鈥檒l say, 鈥極h. OK, I think I can do this.鈥� And then we say, 鈥楬ere鈥檚 the recording: You already do. Now let鈥檚 think of additional day-to-day situations and routines where you may not yet use it, but you could.鈥欌��

Understanding these dynamics matters to linguistics scholars like Ram铆rez because the knowledge will help shape the type of parent coaching interventions that she creates for her own lab, the Language Development and Processing (LDP) Lab, and the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS), both at the University of Washington. As the demographic shifts now at play in U.S. society continue their seismic activity, fathers increasingly will be viewed not as secondary caregivers, but as parents 鈥� and fluent fatherly parentese will be an increasingly important part of infants鈥� learning and language landscape.

Naja Ferjan Ram铆rez is a distinguished professor with the University of Washington鈥檚 Language Acquisition and Multilingualism Endowment, which provided funding for the study.

For decades, a common belief has held that speaking more than one language in a child鈥檚 home confuses the child, makes it more difficult for them to learn English and might even hold them back in school and in life. The unfortunate consequence of this belief has been that some dual-language households have enforced an 鈥淓nglish-only鈥� rule around the children, leaving non-English speaking members of the family constrained and the child disconnected from some of the deepest and best of their heritage. Children may end up hearing less language overall if English is not a preferred language of adults in the household 鈥� at a time when their brains need language like their bodies need food.

In fact, the opposite is true. Researchers have found in numerous studies that bilingual babies learn English at the same rate as monolingual babies, with vocabularies that equal or exceed those of the English-only babies. Bilingual children have been found to have a more advanced ability to think about language and how it works, and there is some evidence that early exposure to a second language makes learning a third language easier.

Although the research is ongoing, multiple studies have found that juggling two languages from an early age actually enhances the mental skills and self-regulation referred to as 鈥渆xecutive function,鈥� which help people plan, solve problems and respond to the world around them in an orderly way. Some even indicate that being bilingual can offer protection decades later against age-related cognitive decline.

All over the world, as societies become more diverse and economies are globally connected, communities are working to create programs to introduce young children to learning a second language. Most are aimed at preschool children to kids in elementary school 鈥� a vast improvement on the traditional approach of starting young people on second languages in high school, but still a bit late.

According to Dr. Marley Jarvis, Outreach and Education Specialist at the University of Washington鈥檚 , researchers there have found it would make sense to start language learning much earlier: Babies鈥� brains are wired for language.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to say elementary school or later is too late for learning another language,鈥� Jarvis says. 鈥淥ne of the remarkable discoveries about our brains in the past couple of decades is their plasticity and their ability to change. Everything we do every day is changing our brains. But learning language later doesn鈥檛 happen in the same way it does with very young children, so we鈥檙e working against ourselves by waiting so long.

鈥淐hildren are already well-established in their first language before they even hit preschool.鈥�

In fact, Jarvis says, research shows that babies begin to learn language sounds while still in the womb. By the time they鈥檙e born they distinguish their mother鈥檚 voice from ambient sound and are even able to .

Babies come into this world equipped with one of the most powerful computers known to humankind 鈥� already on task analyzing massive amounts of data on arrival. About 800 sounds make up all the languages of the world; each human language only uses 40 or so of those sounds. As babies lie in their little bassinets, they are not only absorbing the sights, sounds and sensual cues from this bright new world, is sorting through those multiple data streams like greased lightning, cracking the code of human language, sorting out which of those human sounds are useful in their environment. By the time they鈥檙e 10 months old, babies have 鈥渃ommitted鈥� to their native language, specializing in the language they hear around them, and the sounds and syntax of other human languages fade into the background.

In the case of a child surrounded by speakers of two or more languages, that commitment extends to those languages as well. As I-LABS co-director Dr. Patricia Kuhl, an international authority on early learning and brain development, observes in the video 鈥淚gniting Bilingual Learning,鈥� babies鈥� language learning is time sensitive. The human brain will never be better at learning a second language than in the first three years of life.

Some parents fear that exposure to another language will limit the child鈥檚 English vocabulary, but researchers have also put that concern to rest with studies that show that bilingual children do not lag behind in the number of words they absorb. In fact, the vocabularies of bilingual children have been found to be than those of single-language children.

鈥淚n fact,鈥� Jarvis says, 鈥渨e have yet to see any evidence that a child is confused by more than two languages (though not all spoken at the same time). We haven鈥檛 seemed to find the limit. And they鈥檙e pretty good at knowing who is associated with which language. If you have a multilingual family, kids will naturally switch to the language appropriate to each person.鈥�

And, she says, the sorting and switching from one language to another 鈥� code-switching 鈥� actually helps the baby鈥檚 brain become more agile and resourceful. As they sort through their data streams to find which language is being spoken and then respond appropriately, they begin to develop the impulse control and strategic thinking so essential to executive function. Structural brain studies indicate that bilingual adults have greater brain tissue density in areas related to language, memory and attention, with the highest levels of tissue density among those who were exposed to two languages before the age of 5 years.

Research scientist Dr. Naja Ferjan Ram铆rez, director of the University of Washington鈥檚 Language Development and Processing Lab, is Slovenian, married to a native Spanish-speaker, and their 4-year-old son easily switches among English, Slovenian and Spanish. Though he sometimes uses Slovene endings on English and Spanish words, he modulates his language to match the situation he finds himself in. He may throw in a Spanish or Slovene word in his English dialog, but this is because he has a bigger library to choose from. This code-switching is not haphazard, she writes, but adheres to the linguistic logic of the languages he鈥檚 using.

Each time he does, like a bodybuilder reaching for a heavier weight, he鈥檚 building his brainpower.

For anyone wanting to teach their small children another language, it鈥檚 important to remember that the learning takes place in interaction, not in mere exposure to a recitation of words. It鈥檚 the social brain, Jarvis says, that鈥檚 important in any kind of learning, especially in these early years.

In one , a group of University of Washington students went through an online training program and learned to tutor small children through playful, interactive learning. The students then were sent to Spain to deliver group English sessions daily with Spanish-speaking children in the Community of Madrid鈥檚 public infant education centers. The key practices in their training were to address the children often in English and to speak to the children in 鈥減arentese鈥� (the higher-pitched, singsong language parents use to signal the child that this communication is for them). The learning context was highly social, with the tutors leading the children in games and activities that prompted face-to-face interaction. Tutors were trained to engage the children in frequent back-and-forth exchanges and to encourage the children to 鈥渢alk鈥� and interact with them. (I-LABS a series of research summaries with links to studies and practical family activities with tips for caregivers.)

Essentially, Jarvis says, the tutors played with the children in English in a highly social, engaging way for 45 minutes or so a day. The children in this study saw a nearly five-fold increase in their English speaking, compared with children in a control group in the school system鈥檚 English program. The children continued to develop in their native language, Spanish, at the same time. The big difference between the programs was the degree of social, back-and-forth, play-based interactions in the UW program.

If we want our children to meet the challenges of an increasingly diverse and global society, being fluent in more than one language will be an important element in that success. Parents who want their children to become the global citizens their brains are born to be can rest easy knowing that starting their children down that path as babies can only strengthen the child鈥檚 social and intellectual ability in the years to come.

The good news is that evidence exists, and the tool is readily available. The even better news for parents and caretakers? It鈥檚 free and simple: talk, listen and respond to children when they鈥檙e babies and toddlers. It鈥檚 all about the conversation.

has shown that the amount of interactive talk with adults that children experience in their first three years of life is directly related to their verbal abilities and IQ in adolescence. Researchers with LENA (Language Environment Analysis), a national nonprofit that helps communities accelerate language development in children birth to 3, began studying families in 2006 to observe the amount of adult words and back-and-forth conversations children were exposed to in their daily lives.

“For years, we鈥檝e stressed the importance of what we call 鈥榗onversational turns鈥� as one of the most predictive measures of child outcomes,鈥� says Dr. Jill Gilkerson, LENA鈥檚 chief research and evaluation officer. 鈥淲e were in a really unique position of having that early data and then being able to locate those kids in adolescence and have them participate in language and cognitive tests. Longitudinal studies are rare in this field and we now have long-term, empirical evidence of the benefits of early language exposure.鈥�

For the original study, Gilkerson and her team enlisted more than 300 families with children 2 to 48 months old to participate in daylong LENA sessions for six months using a device that captured talk between the child and their caregivers. Often referred to as a 鈥渢alk pedometer,鈥� the LENA device doesn鈥檛 recognize individual words, but uses speech recognition algorithms that estimate word counts based on syllables, consonant distributions, duration and other characteristics.

The device weighs about two ounces and is small enough to slip into the pocket of a little vest the child wears. Parents were asked to turn the device on at the beginning of the day, leave it on and let it run out by itself. The information was then transferred to a cloud-processing system where the LENA software analyzed the captured audio and presented clear reports that are shared with parents and caregivers. The audio was deleted right after this processing so there鈥檚 never a record of what has been said.

Here鈥檚 how it works. The LENA algorithms are trained to identify and differentiate adult and child speech from TV, electronic media and background sounds. It automatically estimates the number of conversational turns between child and adult. The data show that those are the interactions that figure so dramatically in later outcomes: Children who experience more conversational turns as toddlers do measurably better academically and socially as adolescents.

鈥淐onversational turns鈥� refers to the back and forth talk between adult and child 鈥� even before the child has actual words. Gilkerson compares it to a verbal 鈥渟erve and return鈥� like ping pong. Gilkerson鈥檚 research and other important studies demonstrate that it isn鈥檛 the sheer number of words a child is exposed to but these conversational turns that make the difference in a child鈥檚 brain development and language learning. Torrents of words and human sounds wash over a baby from birth: it鈥檚 the social interaction that make those words stick 鈥� and make the language centers of the baby鈥檚 brain light up like a Christmas tree.

鈥淭he number of those conversational turns, especially at 18 to 24 months, has been shown to be the most predictive of child language development, as well as long-term cognitive outcomes and language outcomes,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a measure of what the child is actually engaged in, not just passively listening to adult words, but their actual experience with language.鈥�

The LENA technology offers a particularly hopeful solution to the documented 鈥渨ord gap鈥� between children in lower socio-economic circumstances and middle- to higher-income families. The gap鈥攚hich say amounts to a 30-million-word advantage by the time better-resourced children reach age 4 鈥� does exist, but the LENA research proves that remedies can be available to every family.

Using the LENA analysis, researchers have been able to provide parents, caregivers and early childhood educators with rapid feedback about their verbal interactions.

鈥淲e鈥檙e able to show parents information about their LENA day compared to a normative sample,鈥� Gilkerson says. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 low, we can share techniques for improving those interactions, and when they make changes, they can see increases in the objective data, which can be very motivating. On the other side of it, it鈥檚 been great to be able to show some families what a wonderful job they鈥檙e already doing. Some of them are already really interacting with their children a lot 鈥� and it can be validating for them to be able to see that.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not necessarily the case that all high-income parents are talking a lot with their kids,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a gigantic range within all socioeconomic groups. There鈥檚 a distribution (with more interaction at higher-income levels), but it鈥檚 important to know that we can change those trajectories through intervention. We can provide feedback and get those parents engaged.鈥�

Particularly with lower-income parents who may be working multiple jobs and experience a great deal of pressure on their time and resources, Gilkerson and her team stress that incorporating conversational turns doesn鈥檛 have to be something 鈥渆xtra鈥� to add to an already overburdened daily reality.

鈥淔or a parent who鈥檚 working long hours and experiencing a lot of challenges, it might not be top of mind for them to provide a language-rich environment for their child,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut if we can just educate them on the importance of talking with their child 鈥� even when they aren鈥檛 yet able to talk to you, it does make such a difference. Even just having a few minutes at the end of the day to sit and read a little. They don鈥檛 have to read a book from cover to cover 鈥� it鈥檚 all about having a conversation about the book. Let them interrupt, ask questions and talk, talk, talk with them. If a parent can do that daily, then they can really improve things for their child.鈥�

LENA has developed comprehensive coaching curriculums that couple with the data from their technology to support parents, teachers and home visitors. The programs are implemented by trusted community partners like libraries, school districts and state agencies. is an evidence-based community program in which parents use LENA鈥檚 technology and meet for 10 weekly sessions (virtually or in person) to increase conversation with their young children. A facilitator introduces for talking with their children and the group discusses the tips, then goes home to try them and returns to discuss how the experience went. The program started in 2015 with two sites; it鈥檚 now up to 31 active sites, reaching more than 4,800 children.

In addition to being a great way for parents to learn the skills of incorporating quality talk into daily routines with their small children, it鈥檚 also a great way to build social capital in the community, she says.

launched in its current form in 2016 and has reached more than 4,700 children so far. The program supports home visitors who work one-on-one with families to increase their focus on talk and positive adult-child interactions. Other LENA tools are also available for speech pathologists, researchers and others who need scientifically reliable speech-language measurements for babies and young children.

, started in 2017, is a research-based professional development program for infant, toddler and pre-K teachers that couples LENA鈥檚 鈥渢alk pedometer鈥� technology with strengths-based coaching that doesn鈥檛 pile more onto their schedules. It is currently operating in 162 centers and has reached more than 9,700 children since its inception.

鈥淚鈥檓 most excited about LENA Grow,鈥� Gilkerson says. 鈥淚f we really want to move the needle and have a large, population-level effect, we want to train the people who will be interacting with a lot of children.

鈥淚鈥檝e been so encouraged by the fact that teachers really love this data. A lot of people in this field are not given ongoing opportunities for growth and professional development. Having someone acknowledge the importance of their work and being provided with a tool that can give them feedback can be very elevating for them. Most of them are attracted to the field because they love being able to help the children in their care.

鈥淭here are so many children who spend more than half of their waking hours in childcare or preschool at a time when their little brains are growing so quickly. Think of how many children a childcare professional can impact over their lifetime.鈥�

Organizations globally are now using LENA programs to enrich their communities鈥� language environments for children and to build early literacy skills, strengthen families and increase school readiness. This offers details.

Think how many children in the world these programs can affect and how many verbally adept, intelligent, socially engaged adolescents 鈥� soon to be adults 鈥� that translates into. Just think.