Lastinger Learning
New Worlds Reading
Florida Tutoring Advantage
The University of Florida Lastinger Center for Learning, in partnership with Helios Education Foundation, launched the 2026-27 Lastinger Listening Tour with a kick-off event at “the Jesse” in Jacksonville. This research initiative will gather perspectives from educators, families, school districts, higher education leaders, and business leaders across Florida to better understand the state’s student information and reporting systems, and guide future programs and policies around what students need to succeed.
Since 2002, the Lastinger Center has built its work on a simple premise: listen first. This tour extends that approach and examines the technical and operational realities of Florida’s education data landscape. Traveling to 10 regions statewide through November 2026, the Center aims to gather input from interviews, focus groups and surveys to identify ways to streamline how information is collected and reported so that meaningful insights reach schools and policymakers fast enough to matter.
Phil Poekert, Director of the UF Lastinger Center, noted the significance of the project’s stakeholder-centered approach:
For twenty years, the Lastinger Center has built everything we do around the idea that we must listen before we build. This tour reflects the same commitment at a statewide scale. We’re not showing up with a system already designed, we’re showing up to understand what Florida’s families, teachers, district and higher ed leaders, and businesses actually need, so that we can build a system with them for the future.
Phil Poekert
Director, UF Lastinger Center
The tour is conducted in partnership with Helios Education Foundation, a philanthropic community impact leader dedicated to creating opportunities for student success in postsecondary education. Helios President and CEO Paul J. Luna welcomed attendees at the Jacksonville event, underscoring the role of research translation in improving student achievement and workforce development.
Helios believes in the power of student success. To help create that path, we have to understand what students are experiencing, what’s working and where barriers remain. By pairing community perspectives with clear data and strong research, we can make better decisions about the programs and policies that help more Florida students succeed.
Paul J. Luna
President and CEO, Helios
By listening to the people for whom education and workforce data are critical, from classroom teachers to district and higher ed staff and business leaders, the Center aims to gather insights that guide future research, infrastructure, and policy decisions, while addressing concerns about transparency, accountability, and data security.
Chaohua Ou, Lastinger Center Director of Data and Learning Technologies, emphasized the project’s technical stakes:
Behind every data point is a classroom, a student, and a decision that needs to be made quickly and well. Too often, the systems meant to support that decision-making create delays instead. This tour is about understanding those bottlenecks firsthand, the governance questions, the interoperability gaps, so we can turn time-consuming reporting into timely, actionable insight for the people who need it most.
Chaohua Ou
Director of Data and Learning Technologies, UF Lastinger Center
After Jacksonville, the tour continues to the Panhandle, Tampa Bay, Central and Southeast Florida, wrapping up in November in South Florida. Findings will be shared publicly to inform statewide policy and infrastructure recommendations.
Learn more about the 2026-27 Listening Tour and share your perspectives on education data by taking the survey.
About the UF Lastinger Center
The UF Lastinger Center for Learning, housed within the University of Florida College of Education, strengthens education across Florida through professional learning programs in early childhood, literacy and mathematics; strategic partnerships; and research and data science initiatives. The Center also administers two of the state’s largest initiatives, New Worlds Reading and Florida Tutoring Advantage. Learn more at lastinger.ufl.edu/.
About Helios Education Foundation:
Helios Education Foundation exists to support postsecondary attainment for all students in Arizona and Florida, with an emphasis on low-income and historically underrepresented communities. Driven by the fundamental beliefs of community, equity, investment, and partnership, Helios has invested more than $350 million in partnerships and initiatives focused on improving education outcomes in the two states it serves. Learn more at helios.org.