COVID-19 Resources

This school year (2020-2021) has been unlike any other, with schools back and forth from full in-person to remote only, some combination of the two, or just closed until further notice.

Back on Feb. 26, 2020, we started this page to help teachers and administrators get a handle on the coming COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, we looked at questions like if we might have to close some schools.

Seven (7) weeks later (mid-April, 2020), it turns out 90% of schools world wide had shut down.

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A Few Schools Reopen, But Remote Learning Could Go On For Years In U.S.

This post from NPR is another look at the current challenges facing schools as they try to reopen. Even in states where school reopening has been OK'ed, few…  learn more

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Building a Sense of Community during School Closures

This post by Amy Takabori explains why building a sense of community for your school during a school closure is important and gives 4 tips on how to…  learn more

CDC Interim Guidance for School Administrators

The CDC has published interim guidance is intended to help administrators prevent the spread of COVID-19 among students and staff at both the school/facility and district level. The…  learn more

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CDC's Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information Portal

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has set up this page to provide information, recommendations, and up-to-the minute news on the coronavirus outbreak. This resource includes…  learn more

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Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now

With everything that's happening about the Coronavirus, it can be very hard to make a decision of what to do today. Should you wait for more information? Do…  learn more

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Disease Modeling Simulator

This free article from the Washington Post looks at disease modeling and why the models vary so widely. It takes you thru a disease modeling simulation showing how…  learn more

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Does Your Mask Work?

Given the wide variety of face coverings that people are wearing, how do we know which are effective? After explaining why masks are important, this post outlines two…  learn more

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Graduation, Financial Aid, Admissions – For This Year's College-Bound, The Future Is In Turmoil

To say things are "up in the air" regarding fall college admissions is an understatement. This article from NPR outlines some of the current issues for H.S. seniors…  learn more

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Graphics: Exponential growth and how to "flatten the curve"

This tutorial from The Washington Post uses animations and graphs to explain the math behind the current drive for social distancing to slow down community transmission. The simulation…  learn more

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How do you study online without a computer or internet access?

The current stay-at-home environment is challenging for learning on a number of fronts. This article talks about how school districts in Colorado are trying to overcome the disparities…  learn more

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How long will social distancing have to last?

How long are we going to have to keep this up? How long will schools stay closed? It's an especially hard question for science to answer. The best…  learn more

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How To See Germs Spread

Mark Rober, a former NASA engineer and current "YouTuber and friend of science", put together this video showing how easy it is to spread germs, including the COVID-19…  learn more

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Is School Safe? NPR Answers Back-To-School Questions

Parents, teachers and students across the country are gearing up for the new school year. But, as of mid-July, what schools and the school day would look like…  learn more

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mRNA Vaccine explained using Star Wars

Randall Munroe at xkcd uses the Star Wars' Death Star to explain how mRNA vaccines work, like the ones currently available for COVID-19. While you may feel a…  learn more

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School Leaders Debate Solutions For an Uncertain 2020-21

This article by Sarah Gonser highlights some issues that we will all face as states start to prepare contingency plans for a highly unpredictable Fall 2020 school year:…  learn more

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Teacher Licensure During COVID-19: Barriers to Student Teaching, Renewals, and More

This post by Krista Kaput looks at issues specific to Minnesota, but is a reminder that the COVID-19 crisis has caused ripple effects across the education system, raising…  learn more

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Top 10 risks and opportunities for education in the face of COVID-19

At the end of March, 2020, 185 countries had closed their schools, affecting 90 percent of the world's students. The speed of these closures and the rapid move…  learn more

Watch out for discrimination

"We have this tendency to confuse people who are sick with entire groups of people, and that's what makes it discriminatory. When you single out entire groups of…  learn more

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What face masks actually do against coronavirus

Over the past couple of months, the world has received more evidence that face masks really can play a crucial role in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.…  learn more

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Why flattening the curve for coronavirus matters

This quick video from ABC News (posted March 10th) explains why officials are banning crowds, closing schools, and encouraging anything to avoid a lot of human contact. It's…  learn more

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Your Guide to Internet Service During The COVID-19 Outbreak

With schools turning to the Internet to facilitate education activities, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are stepping up to the plate, providing free Internet hotspots and continued service during…  learn more

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A History of Past Pandemics

Some people comparing this event to the 1918 Flu Pandemic. The CDC has a great resource documenting the 1918 pandemic and other pandemics over the years including ones…  learn more

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What is R0?

When a new disease emerges, health organizations turn to a seemingly simple number to gauge whether the outbreak will spread. It's called the basic reproduction number—R0, pronounced R-nought—and…  learn more

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WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) portal

The World Health Organization (WHO) has an information portal of their own with the latest information on the COVID-19 coronavirus, updated daily. Of particular interest will be the…  learn more

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Minnesota Dept of Health

PROTECTING, MAINTAINING AND IMPROVING THE HEALTH OF ALL MINNESOTANS  learn more

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COVID Symptom Study

Want to help advance the understanding of COVID-19? An easy way to help is downloading the COVID Symptom Study app onto your smartphone. It takes a few minutes…  learn more

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NSBA Covid-19 Resources

The National School Boards Association (NSBA) is tracking the coronavirus pandemic is indexing resources and information that administrators will find helpful. They continue to update this post as…  learn more

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xkcd: Pathogen Resistance

You've probably seen xkcd comics before – Randall Munroe has a very different outlook on life. In this installment he looks at the current COVID-19 battle from the…  learn more

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Mike Rowe's Unsolicited Commencement Speech

Mike Rowe's recorded a commencement speech to all those graduating from a trade school, and to those high school graduates about to enter one. In these uncertain times,…  learn more