Lastinger Learning
New Worlds Reading
Florida Tutoring Advantage
2023-2024 Impact Highlights
From the Director
It was another banner year at the UF Lastinger Center for Learning. Our associates and faculty have been hard at work advancing the quality of education in early learning,
literacy, mathematics, and technology & data science.
We served educators, administrators, students and their families in every Florida county and continued projects in Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Kentucky. In Florida, we were honored by the passage of HB 1361, which codified in state statute the work we began over 20 years ago to help teachers teach and students learn.
Please take a look below to learn more of what we’ve been up to this year.
Phil Poekert
Lastinger Center Director
Lastinger Center Reach
This year we served:
Our learners completed:
We served learners in:
We sent out:
State Programs
New Worlds Reading
During the 2023–2024 school year, we served 265,551 students in over 200,000 households statewide. Plus, we’ve shipped over 2.8 million books and connected with Florida families at 334 community events.
Expanding Partnerships
This year, we established partnerships with 13 community organizations and non-profits to help spread a love of literacy and increase enrollment in New Worlds Reading. Together our Regional Partners hosted or participated in 665 additional community events serving 50,000+ students and family members.
- Panhandle Area Educational Consortium
- Northeast Florida Educational Consortium
- Literacy Alliance of Northeast Florida
- Principle Life Family Resource Center
- The Lucy Project
- United Way Suncoast
- Uplift Literacy
- Children’s Home Society of Florida
- Children’s Literacy Initiative
- Consortium of Florida
- Education Foundations
- Florida State Alliance of YMCAs
- Hands Together for Haitians
- Heartland Educational Consortium
Furthermore, we partnered up with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to create the Books & Cooks program. This program brings families together with cooking demonstrations, nutrition education, children’s books, and related family reading activities.
Florida Tutoring Advantage
In 2024, the Florida Legislature unanimously passed HB 1361 designating the UF Lastinger Center for Learning to establish a tutoring program to support students across the state to improve their literacy and mathematics achievement.
The Florida Tutoring Advantage is partnering with districts to pilot program interventions in 2024-25. Program goals include:
This course has challenged my thinking and pushed me to learn new strategies and skills. The class was really great.
Early Learning Educator
Professional Learning
Early Learning
More than 41,000 early learning educators have improved their practice with UF Lastinger Center programs since 2015. Through in-person trainings, ongoing communities of practice, and over 1,000 hours of online content in English and Spanish, there’s something to help every early learning educator, coach, or director grow.
Early Literacy Micro-Credentials
The Early Literacy Micro-Credentials are a hybrid model of online modules, instructor-supported online courses and on-the-job practice opportunites. This professional learning program equips birth to twelfth-grade instructional personnel with foundational Science of Reading knowledge and skills to help students learn to read. Eligible participants earn a stipend for mastery of the content.
23-24 Micro-Credential Participation by Track
| Educators | Enrolled | Completed | Received a stipend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Learning | 18,827 | 9,964 | 10,649 |
| Elementary | 11,300 | 7,511 | 7,233 |
| Secondary | 4,241 | 2,643 | 2,303 |
Literacy
In addition to the Early Literacy Micro-Credentials, the UF Lastinger Center for Learning continues to support learners with online, on-demand professional learning pathways that lead to earning their Reading Endorsement or the newly-created Literacy Coach Endorsement.
90 Literacy Coaches earned the Florida Literacy Coach Endorsement created for the state by the UF Lastinger Center.
1,498 teachers from across Florida earned Reading Endorsements though the UF Lastinger Center Literacy Matrix.
914 Florida teachers improved their literacy instruction at New Worlds Reading institutes across the state.
Literacy Matrix participants improved their knowledge on literacy research and strategies from 54% to 88%.
Mathematics
Math Matrix Professional Learning Pilot
Instructional Skill Mastery
100% of Math Matrix Micro-Credential completers demonstrated mastery of 4 key components of instruction.
Teacher Learning & Classroom Impact
Nine out of 10 participants reported that they:
- Were satisfied with what they learned
- Found the content relevant and easy to understand
- Applied what they learned to their classroom
- Improved their classroom instruction
- Were better able to motivate students
Improved Math Knowledge
Math Matrix participants grew their knowledge of math content and instruction from 68% to 91%.
Every Lastinger training I have participated in exceeds expectations: from hands-on materials to personable trainers, the time spent feels great and well taught – ready to deliver to my team and students.
Elementary Reading Educator
Lastinger Learning Lab
Data & Technology
As education systems continue to implement and expand technology in teaching and learning, large volumes of data are available to inform learning design, enhance learning experiences, and improve learning outcomes. The Lastinger Center’s technology infrastructure connects student and educator data to improve education practice.
Kibeam Wand™ Reading System
The UF Lastinger Center for Learning celebrated a new partnership this year with Kibeam Learning, Inc. Their new invention, the Kibeam Wand™ Reading System offers engaging, kinetic activities based on the stories in paper books, promotes a love of reading for young readers, and opens up new possibilities with data analytics designed to aid parents and educators supporting emerging readers.
Kibeam Wands were sent to 10,000 families enrolled in New Worlds Reading to try out the device for a large-scale research project. The pilot will expand to an additional 49,500 households in 2024-2025.
Artificial Intelligence
With demand for our professional learning programs skyrocketing, the Center has partnered with Terawe to develop an AI model to auto-grade assignments in the Early Literacy Micro-Credentials program.
Leveraging this emerging technology will: