UF Lastinger Center for Learning

Since launching in 2023, Books & Cooks has served 575 families across 8 Florida counties. Now, with the support of New Worlds Reading and the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the free literacy and nutrition program is expanding to serve even more counties in Florida. Read more at

Free family literacy and nutrition program expands statewide reach, adds Type 2 diabetes prevention The UF Books & Cooks literacy and nutrition program is expanding to more counties and will include information on Type 2 diabetes prevention.

The 2026 Leadership for Professional Learning symposium is in full swing!

Today, attendees from around the globe made their way to Maine and visited local schools to see instruction and learning take place in real-time. The day ended with an opening session and a round of small group discussions.

Next up, these education professionals will be a part of even more collaborative discussions on education policy, professional learning research and other important topics in education.

Communities of Practice and training sessions are both important, but they serve different purposes. Explore their differences and learn how to effectively lead both types of professional learning sessions in our latest on-demand webinar.

Back to Basics: Community of Practice Facilitation Ana Valdes with the UF Lastinger Center discusses:- The difference...

At the Florida Department of Education’s Summer Literacy Institute, we had the chance to talk about all things literacy with hundreds of educators. Across our presentations, we shared ready-to-use tools for literacy instruction, insights from our New Worlds Reading and Florida Tutoring Advantage initiatives and so much more!

(P.S. Want to be the first to know when apps open for our literacy programs? Check out this post’s comment section for the link to our interest form.)