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Lesson Plans

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Rural schools grapple with
COVID-19

Building on a foundation of reporting on the state of rural America, the Institute for Nonprofit News partnered with a handful of its members to examine how rural America would respond to and be affected by the impact of COVID-19 on its schools.

Read stories from the collaboration below.

Impact Report

High-impact partnerships extend reach, impact of rural education project

Nine media organizations — Charlottesville Tomorrow, El Paso Matters, IowaWatch, The Nevada Independent, New Mexico in Depth, Underscore News/Pamplin Media Group and Wisconsin Watch/The Badger Project — worked together to tell the story of the unique struggles rural districts face as they educate students during the pandemic. Lesson Plans stories were also published by 97 outlets in 31 states and six national/niche outlets.

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Showing 20 results of 37
January 21, 2021
Rural schools battled bad internet, low attendance in the pandemic. Will spring semester be better?

It’s unclear how far the pandemic has set back learning in the past year. But some initial research has not been encouraging…

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January 11, 2021
In a small rural school reside big hopes for Nevada’s Native students

In Nevada, Schurz Elementary School Principal Lance West is on a mission to improve education for Native students.

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January 8, 2021
Working Through Challenges in Rural Oregon

As high school students juggle responsibilities of a job or child care, one school district experiments with evening tutoring.

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January 5, 2021
As semester ends in Wisconsin, COVID-19 fears shrink — while concerns of academic slide grow

Schools are not the superspreader sites that many feared, but research indicates U.S. students fell behind in math during the pandemic.

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January 4, 2021
Orange County middle school declines to release attendance during pandemic, compare to 2019

Orange County, Virginia school officials are declining to release info comparing this year’s attendance so far to last year’s.

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January 4, 2021
Nine months into the pandemic, learning impact on rural border schools remains unclear

Educators at Texas high schools aren’t sure how much learning loss has occurred among students during the pandemic.

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January 4, 2021
A historic year, learning loss threatens recent educational gains

In New Mexico, learning losses caused by the pandemic will likely weaken already low student outcomes.

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January 4, 2021
The people behind a rural Iowa school district enduring the coronavirus

The staff at Iowa’s South Hamilton Schools spend their days keeping up with the daily reports of sickened students and faculty, making sure…

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January 4, 2021
South Hamilton, like other rural Iowa schools, takes on what-ifs of learning in COVID

The district weathered a September coronavirus outbreak that sickened 117 kids who tested positive or were exposed to someone who did.

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October 23, 2020
A rural district’s solution for reopening schools? Six-week courses for older students

The success of the pedagogical experiment hinges on one question: Will it work for students?

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October 23, 2020
How a rural Iowa school district changed busing for costs, staffing, and students’ safety

When the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly closed public schools, rural school districts had to begin planning for an uncertain return.

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October 22, 2020
COVID complicates college prep for Native students

Programs that help Native students prepare for and succeed in college are declining in the pandemic.

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October 22, 2020
El Paso COVID-19 surge could disrupt rural border education efforts

The struggle to balance education with student and teacher safety plays out at many rural school districts on the Texas-Mexico border.

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October 21, 2020
Amid technical and logistical challenges, Warm Springs parents struggle to connect

Rural school districts in Oregon have come up with innovative ways to create digital classrooms to keep education going during the pandemic.

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October 20, 2020
Wisconsin schools ‘whipsawing’ as COVID-19 hits rural districts

Some rural schools in the state are forced to integrate all students into online classrooms.

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October 19, 2020
COVID-19 pressures Orange schools to increase routes

Virginia’s Orange County Public Schools are still facing its biggest driver shortage in more than a decade.

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August 28, 2020
COVID has made rural schools suddenly responsible for getting internet to kids in remote, unserved areas

With the rise of remote learning, the problem of inadequate internet access has fallen suddenly on rural school divisions to solve.

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August 27, 2020
Oregon’s mandatory distance learning puts pressure on families

Students spent the last three months of the 2019-20 school year learning remotely. This fall, they’re poised to do the same, despite stress to families.

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August 27, 2020
Closing the graduation gap in Jefferson County’s schools

Professional learning communities helped teachers collaborate and get clear about what individual students needed to learn.

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August 27, 2020
Battling a COVID backslide in Central Oregon schools

Though graduation rates have improved, parents are worried that distance learning may cause rates to slide once again.

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The collaboration partners were Charlottesville Tomorrow, El Paso Matters, Iowa Watch, The Nevada Independent, New Mexico In Depth, Underscore News/Pamplin Media Group and Wisconsin Watch/The Badger Project.

The project was made possible by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation, and support in the Midwest from INN’s Amplify News Project, whose funders include the Joyce Foundation.

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