Florida Institute of Education
FIE projects address critical educational issues in Florida. Working with local, regional, and statewide initiatives, these projects cover a wide range of topics:
School Readiness
FIE continues to build on a rich body of research to support young children’s learning and the active engagement in that learning by their families. FIE researchers worked collaboratively with school readiness and prekindergarten teachers to develop and test innovative instructional strategies using concept mapping designed to strengthen children’s background knowledge, vocabulary, and connection-making skills.
Early Literacy and Learning Model/Plus (ELLM/Plus)
The Early Literacy and Learning Model/Plus (ELLM/Plus) is a research-based, comprehensive curriculum for 3-, 4-, and 5-year old preschool children that has been proven to be effective improving children's early reading achievement in an experimental study. The literacy-focused curriculum builds children's cognitive development through literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, the arts, motor experiences, and physical health.
Family Garden and Engagement Program
The Family Garden and Engagement Program is an innovative supplemental curriculum program developed by FIE to engage infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children. The program is designed to promote language development by increasing the number and quality of conversations children have with their teachers and families, helping to accelerate their language skills. Through meaningful interactions, children develop the foundational skills needed for learning, reading, and long-term academic success. The program uses the dynamic and ever-changing environment of a garden as a natural setting which, combined with teacher professional learning and exciting family engagement components, encourage engaging conversations among teachers, families, and children.
Jax SOARS (Strengthening Opportunities to Achieve Reading Success)
The goal of Jax SOARS, which began in Fall 2024, is to align early literacy, elementary reading, and family engagement within a defined geographic area. In practice, the Jax SOARS Westside Roots & Wings Hub includes partner early learning and care centers serving 300 children from birth to age five and over 600 students at two partner elementary schools serving students from Pre-K through fifth grade. A defining feature of the embedded hub model is its intentional focus on family engagement and support as a core strategy for improving literacy outcomes. This focus is implemented through two complementary strategies: reimagined family engagement and support and the Jax SOARS Adventure League, implemented at each of the two participating DCPS elementary schools. The Jax SOARS Adventure League is a structured literacy enrichment component designed to increase reading motivation and engagement among elementary students. Delivered during non-instructional time by certified teachers (Travel Guides), the program provides interest-based, immersive reading experiences that reinforce positive associations with books across home and school settings. Open to all students and families at the schools, the Adventure League promotes belonging through student choice, guided interactions with staff, and recognition of participation and achievement.
PreK-12 Education
FIE continues to promote educational opportunities for students from early childhood learning through post-secondary education. One initiative is the UNF/FIE PreCollegiate Connections: College Reach-Out Program. The program aims to increase high school students’ aspirations for enrollment and success in post-secondary education.
FIE works toward this vision using a systematic approach for improving practice and informing policy, an approach which embraces a sustained commitment to research, to university/practitioner collaboration, to innovation and development, to dissemination of evidence-based tools and strategies, and to data-informed decision- and policy-making.
FIE Undergraduate Business Team Apprenticeship Program and FIE Student Assistants
The FIE Undergraduate Business Team Apprenticeship Program currently provides two students in the Coggin College of Business half-time, full-year paid apprenticeships that allow students to gain experience in their fields while gaining valuable workforce skills. FIE also employs from three to six undergraduate- and graduate-level students for 10 to 15 hours a week each. Student assistants are paid a competitive wage for on-campus employment and also acquire critical workforce skills. Students employed at FIE also benefit from mentoring by FIE staff.
FIE Progressive Scaffolded Support