COVID-19 Policy Update #134
COVID-19 Policy Update
FRIDAY 10/23
TOP THREE
How Deeply Will Digital Learning Transform K-12 Long Term? New Project Tomorrow Speak Up research from 110,467 K-12 students, 11,731 teachers and librarians, 1,128 school and district level administrators, 11,749 parents and 1,532 community members. EducationDive article here. A few highlights:
Greater digital resource usage by teachers and students expands opportunities for defining rigor and quality of resources, and greater context for defining digital learning's value.
Parents have a stronger appreciation of digital learning as a mode of delivery for education as well as their role in the learning process at home.
Students' appreciation of technology as a learning tool has also grown, with recognition of new mediums
48% of teachers reported greater awareness of individual student academic strengths as a byproduct of their technology use during remote learning, an increase of 10 percentage points compared to the pre-school closure results.
As a result of the spring 2020 shift to remote learning, an increased number of parents (75%) now say that the effective use of technology within school is very important for their child’s future success compared to the percentage of parents who held that view prior to school closures (55%).
Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee: The FDA's advisory committee met to discuss issues with COVID vaccines. Their discussion surfaced a number of important issues:
The Reagan-Udall Foundation is assisting the committee with better understanding the communication/perception barriers that lead so many Americans to feel hesitant about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, when available.
Their researchers broke out six areas of concern: concerns about the speed of the process, distrust in government, distrust in the healthcare system, worries that politics and economics are being prioritized over science, fears of differing vaccine effectiveness for different populations and fears based on past experience.
Quotes shared with the committee: “I firmly believe that this is another Tuskegee experiment” and, “We are not going to be guinea pigs again.”
Numerous members want more details on who is volunteering for trials and how research will continue if a shot is authorized for emergency use. A number raised the need to accelerate vaccine testing with children.
NIAID’s Marston also raised that sliding public confidence in vaccines and COVID-19 shots in particular, noting that the sentiment can be particularly strong in underserved communities.
We Got the School Reopening Story Wrong: Piece from AEI's Nat Malkus:
"A close examination of emergency remote learning in spring 2020 reveals large differences between Red, Blue, and Purple states, with Red states often coming up short. Those gaps are due in part to challenges which still exist this fall."
"After spring closures, about a third of schools in Red states offered students synchronous learning platforms, like Zoom, compared to about half in Purple and Blue states. Assistance with devices and internet access were also much lower in Red states."
"Gaps extended beyond technology, because fewer schools in Red states expected one-on-one contact between students and teachers, posted explicit expectations for student participation, or took attendance after buildings were closed (which turned out to be a quarter of the school year)."
"Structural factors, like broadband access, shorter school years, and more rural students, are more directly connected to the forms of learning offered in the spring. Those non-political factors combined to produce less effective remote learning in Red states in the spring, created yet another compelling reason for pragmatic school leaders to prioritize in-person reopening so that students could make up lost ground."
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Testing Vaccine With Children: The global hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine for kids is only just beginning — a lagging start that has some U.S. pediatricians worried they may not know if any shots work for young children in time for the next school year.
Asymptomatic Children Have Low Coronavirus Levels Compared to Those with Symptoms:
An analysis of 800 pediatric cases showed that asymptomatic children have significantly low levels of the virus compared to those who experience symptoms.
"While these findings provide some reassurance about the safety of asymptomatically infected children attending school, these unanswered questions suggest that risk mitigation measures in daycares, schools and the community remain critical to reduce the spread of COVID-19," said study first author Larry Kociolek, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital
High School Sports: A University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health study found participation in high school sports in Wisconsin has not led to an increase in COVID-19 cases among student-athletes.
Foreign Disinformation Social Media Campaigns Linked to Falling Vaccination Rates: Really interesting study:
"The proliferation of 'anti-vaxx' messaging on social media is of particular public health concern, given that vaccination is seen as a key route out of the current coronavirus pandemic."
"Every 1 point increase in effort is tied to an average 2% drop in annual coverage around the globe, and a 15% increase in the number of negative tweets about vaccination.
"Foreign disinformation was also associated with negative social media activity about vaccination, boosting the number of negative vaccine tweets by 15%, on average."
STATE
California:
The Hemet Unified School District board of trustees voted to continue distance learning until Thursday, Jan. 21, for elementary schools and Monday, Feb. 1, for secondary schools.
Schools in L.A. County can reopen for up to 25% of their students who need special services
SF students learning English face extra risks of falling behind in online schooling.
"Teachers Unions Vehemently Oppose Schools Opening Too Soon"
Public Policy Institute of California Poll:
2 our 3 Californians worry about a coronavirus vaccine being approved too soon.
If a vaccine were available now, 26% of respondents would definitely get it and 31% would probably do so. 20% who probably would not get the vaccine and another 20% who would definitely not get it.
There were stark differences along racial lines with 70% of Asian Americans, 62% of whites and 54% of Latinos saying they would definitely or probably get a vaccine, if it was available today. Just 29% of African Americans said the same in the state survey.
DC: The mayor points to learning loss in urging schools to reopen as city
"D.C. Public Schools released data showing a decline of 22 percentage points in the number of kindergartners meeting literacy goals at the start of the school year compared to a year ago, and a nine percentage-point drop in students through second grade who are meeting these targets."
“For all the kids who may never catch up from missing seven months of school — and maybe the whole academic year if their government does not have a plan — this is what we are talking about,” Bowser said."
Illinois: The Chicago Teachers Union is accusing city officials of "illegally refusing to bargain over school reopening conditions."
Iowa: The Iowa Department of Education will give $4.4 million of CARES Act funding to colleges and universities to help students access online learning.
North Carolina:
Kindergarten enrollment has fallen as more parents opt to 'redshirt' children. "While these decisions mean fewer kindergarten students this year, they also likely mean teachers and schools will see elevated kindergarteners and first-grade enrollments next year once families stop postponing school."
Parents are split on whether it is safe for students to go back to in-person classes, with 49% agreeing and 48% who say they disagree.
Parents who say they identify as Republican are much more likely, 61%, to say they think their child would be safe returning to school in person. That’s compared to 33% of Democrats who feel the same way.
Pennsylvania: The Allentown School District is recommending an online learning model until January 2021.
Texas: Teachers from 35 Houston ISD campuses call in sick to protest reopening of schools.
INTERNATIONAL
Nigeria: Great article on how edtech is helping students in Nigeria as well as their sustainability challenges. Slum2School, a volunteer-driven organization, launched a virtual learning studio to provide access to continuous learning and tutoring for 10,000 children in slums and remote communities.”
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
SREB Commission on Strategic Partnerships for Work-Ready Students: Released its final report with 11 recommendations to help states build strategic industry sector partnerships, the report covers policies, funding and building the capacity of educators. It also spotlights innovative solutions from around the nation.
Aspen Institute Future of Work: "Career Coaching Can Help Workers Navigate an Increasingly Complex and Evolving Labor Market."
RESOURCES
Debating the Progressive Case for Opening Schools: Slate interviews Joseph Allen from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Why We Decided To Homeschool Our Children This Year: Michael Horn shares how his family thought through the decision.
High School Student Builds a List on Online Learning Resources: Sophia Joffe built eLearn.fyi, a database of more than 300 online learning tools, in tables organized by grade level and subject matter.
Cheat Codes: Students Search For Shortcuts in Online Learning: Sophomore Gradyn Wursten wrote a computer program that can skip videos on Edgenuity and automatically fill practice questions with answers. Instead of watching a 30-minute history lesson, students can cut right to the quiz. And those answers are often easily found on the web.
How to Make Blended Learning Work: New resources from The Learning Accelerator.
America's School Funding Crisis: NPR articles here and here. LPI estimates that if states slash education spending by 15%, schools could be forced to eliminate more than 300,000 teaching positions — almost 10% of the national K-12 teacher force.
The Aurora Institute: Released A Promise for Equitable Futures: Enabling Systems Change to Scale Educational and Economic Mobility Pathways, calling for "the systematic dismantling of the traditional time- and place-bound structures that mark our current K-12 education system."
Let’s Flatten The Infodemic Curve: WHO article providing tips for evaluating information related to COVID-19 and stopping the spread of misinformation.
You Made It to the Weekend: It's ok. Take a deep breath.