Education News

MPR News keeps track of the latest education news in Minnesota so you can understand the events shaping the future of learning and how it impacts students at any level.

Stay informed about local education events, policies and more happening in schools and colleges across Minnesota.

Minnesota college students reflect on the semester, Thanksgiving holiday
Thanksgiving presents a tough decision this year for many college students. Some schools are asking students living on campus to head home, while others are asking them to stay. MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with two college freshmen about how they’re spending the holiday, and what this semester has been like.
Education at a crossroads for students with disabilities
Isolated at home with few services to help, many families of students with disabilities say they are terrified that their children's progress will regress.
How the pandemic could transform higher ed
In response to skyrocketing coronavirus cases, many higher ed institutions are moving back to online learning — and nobody is happy about that. What does it mean for the continued spread of COVID-19 and the future of college? 
Michigan halts in-person classes, indoor dining as coronavirus surges
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration on Sunday ordered high schools and colleges to stop in-person classes, closed restaurants to indoor dining and suspended organized sports in a bid to curb the state's spiking coronavirus cases.
In Michigan, undocumented immigrants form learning pod so they won't lose their jobs
For the past six weeks, 24 students have been doing their virtual classwork in a learning pod at a Michigan church. Their parents feared losing their jobs if they stayed home to help their children navigate virtual schooling.
More Minnesota schools halt in-person classes as COVID-19 cases rise
Schools across the state are beginning to suspend in-person learning as COVID-19 case rates rise. Duluth, Bloomington and Hopkins public schools have announced plans to transition their students to distance learning. 
ChangeMakers: Vanessa GoodThunder, revitalizing the Dakota language
Vanessa GoodThunder, 26, is the director of the C̣aƞṡayapi Waḳaƞyeża Owayawa Oṭi, the Lower Sioux Early Head Start and Head Start Dakota language immersion program in Morton, Minn. She is from the Lower Sioux Indian Community, a Dakota community in Southwest Minnesota described as "where they paint the trees red."