U Florida Receives $1 Million Early Learning Grant
The University of Florida College of
Education has received a $1 million grant to support Early Learning Florida,
the college's online professional development system for the state's 55,000
early learning educators.
The University of Florida's Lastinger
Center for Learning is the college's innovation incubator that is
implementing Early Learning Florida. According to information on the Lastinger
Center's site, the platform "will offer free courses for early childhood
educators to expand their certifications and gain skills to better educate and
care for young children."
“We’ll use this money to improve learning and development for hundreds of
thousands of young children by providing new tools and resources to build the
skills of early learning professionals," said said Don Pemberton, director of
the Lastinger Center for Learning, in a prepared statement.
The $1 million grant comes from the Jim Moran Foundation and will be
dispersed in equal payments over the next three years. With this grant, Early
Learning Florida has received $3 million in donations from major philanthropic
organizations, including $900,000 from Helios Education Foundation, $500,000
from the Lastinger Family Foundation and $600,000 from an Ohio-based foundation
that wishes to remain anonymous.
Further information about the UF Lastinger Center for Learning can be found
on the University of Florida's site.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].