The Lastinger Center for Learning at the University of Florida, created in 1999, is nationally known for its work with schools and school districts across the state to improve the quality of teaching, student learning and leadership, especially at high-poverty urban elementary schools. The Center connects nearly 100 partnering schools statewide with the multidisciplinary resources of a top research university to form powerful learning communities in support of children’s learning and healthy development.
UF education professors affiliated with the Lastinger Center embed themselves in the classrooms of partnering schools for first-hand observation and collaborate with administrators and teachers to provide state-of-the-art professional development that directly impacts teaching practice. The Center serves as a central clearinghouse, identifying the most effective instructional strategies and sharing new models of teaching and learning with educators throughout the state.
Recent innovations include:
- Free graduate degree programs online and in their own classrooms for partnering teachers and principals
- Yearlong apprenticeships in impoverished Duval County schools for career changers hoping to become elementary school teachers
- Expanding new school-readiness programs into South Florida communities to smooth the transition to the classroom for at-risk preschoolers likely to start school unprepared.
The UF Lastinger Center’s role in Secrets of Successful Teaching:
During the Foundation for Excellence in Education’s inaugural Celebration of Teaching, the 2008 Excel Award winners participated in focus groups to share their real-life classroom experiences with eight education professors and 13 doctoral students from the Lastinger Center. Florida’s greatest teachers also completed a UF-developed online survey about their classroom teaching practices.
In the ensuing months, the UF researchers and Foundation for Excellence in Education compiled and analyzed the data to create Secrets of Successful Teaching.
The analysis and writing team from the Lastinger Center at the University of Florida included:
- Dorene Ross, Professor
- Alyson Adams, Clinical Assistant Professor
- Thomasenia Adams, Professor
- Tim Jacobbe, Assistant Professor
- Kerry McArthur, Assistant Professor
- Barbara Pace, Associate Professor
- Stephen Pape, Associate Professor
The Foundation for Excellence in Education also wishes to acknowledge the work of additional faculty and graduate students who were part of the data collection team, including:
UF faculty
UF Graduate students
- Katie Milton
- Karina Hensberry
- Stephanie Dodman
- Katina Short
- Joe DiPietro
- Mary Theresa Kiely
- Charlotte Mundy
- Brian Trutchel
- Luke Rodesiler
- Katie Tricarico
- Lauren Tripp
- Vicki Vescio