Gardner Center Communications Associate Leslie Patron recently welcomed to the recording studio her colleague, researcher Kendra Fehrer, and Soodie Ansari from the San Mateo County Office of Education. Kendra and Soodie discussed the work they are doing together as part of a research-practice partnership with the San Mateo County’s Early Childhood Language Development Initiative. This important initiative addresses the readiness gap of preschool age dual language learners by supporting a strong literacy base in the early years in both the home language and English, and introducing strategies to strengthen culturally meaningful family-teacher partnerships.