The global COVID-19 pandemic have challenged schools across the United States and the world to consider how they not only move to distance learning, but also safely return students and staff to school with a new, unpredictable virus.
The state of Minnesota has been seen as a leader nationally in its planning and implementation of distance learning. Now state officials are calling on school leaders across Minnesota to prepare for a hybrid model that includes both distance learning and in-person instruction at school sites for the start of the 2020-21 school year.
What can we learn from other state and countries?
Here are a few key resources to consider:
- Return to Learn Oklahoma: This framework to reopen schools is more detailed than other state plans. It addresses many of the issues in the MREA Guide. It is definitely worth reading and taking notes.
- Pennsylvania Reopening Guidance: This guide to a phased reopening of PreK-12 schools front loads expectations and in towards the back of the document provides “Possible Considerations” to achieving the outcomes. Again not much detail on how to achieve the outcomes.
- Other Countries: This resource from the Learning Policy Institute outlines the health and safety guidelines from other countries. It reports on the reopening policies and procedures in five countries and lists good questions about each policy topic. This is worth the read and taking notes.
