Georgia Awards Early Language and Literacy Grants to Infant and Toddler Classrooms Across the State

The program, Early Language and Literacy Classroom Grants, aims to foster positive and responsive relationships between teachers and children that will help infants and toddlers develop critical early language and literacy skills. Participating programs will work with an Infant Toddler Specialist to conduct a language and literacy inventory for each classroom involved and purchase needed materials and supplies. They will also participate in intensive professional development activities, including monthly literacy forums focused on mentoring and responsive supervision; quarterly early language and literacy institutes; and individualized coaching. Grant funds will support the salary for one infant toddler teacher, who will serve as the lead for the program in addition to the child care director. Leads will serve as mentors to other teachers and help them apply new knowledge to their classroom practices.

A key component of the grant is the use of data to identify areas for improvement. For example, participating classrooms will utilize LENA Grow™ which uses individual recorders worn by children to measure classroom talk. Analysis of the data focuses on conversational turns, which are a good measure of interactivity in conversation. Teachers will regularly review LENA reports with their coaches, who will use video examples and other tools to share strategies to support young children’s language development.