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About

Misssion

The PedzSTAR Lab at Northwestern University is dedicated to transforming how we identify and support early speech and language development through research, technology, and equity-centered design. We develop tools, datasets, and models that empower educators, clinicians, and families, especially those historically underserved, to recognize communication strengths and address challenges earlier and more fairly.

What we do

Our work brings together

Speech-language science to understand developmental patterns

Data science and AI to enable scalable, bias-aware solutions

Clinical insight from real-world assessments and service delivery

Community partnerships to ensure our tools reflect real children in real contexts

We create screening instruments, train predictive models, and evaluate current tools with a critical eye toward fairness, accuracy, and usability.

Why it Matters

Far too often, children from racially, linguistically, or socioeconomically diverse backgrounds are misidentified, under-identified, or over-referred due to screening tools that were not designed with them in mind. We are working to change that by reimagining screening from the ground up.

Our Values

Inclusion: We center linguistic and cultural diversity in our designs.

Fairness: We evaluate tools not only for accuracy but for equity.

Innovation:  We push boundaries in AI and speech technology for good.

Community Voice: We co-create with families, teachers, and clinicians.

Transparency: We share tools, data, and findings openly.

Nothing About Us Without Us