COVID-19 Policy Update #149
COVID-19 Policy Update
FRIDAY 11/13
TOP THREE
Differences in How US and the EU Are Approaching Schools: As schools shut across the US, Europe made it a mission to keep them open
Learning Loss: New study in JAMA:
Using the 2018 ACS, we estimated that approximately 24.2 million children aged 5 to 11 years attended public schools that were closed during the 2020 pandemic (11.4 million White, 4.3 million Hispanic, 3.6 million Black, and 4.9 million Other).
Across all US states, we estimated that public schools were closed for a median 54.0 days as a result of COVID-19.
"We estimated that primary school–aged boys could lose, approximately 0.15 final years of education as a result of school closure whereas girls could lose 0.12 years."
"Missed instruction during 2020 could be associated with an estimated 5.53 million years of life lost. This loss in life expectancy was likely to be greater than would have been observed if leaving primary schools open had led to an expansion of the first wave of the pandemic."
Higher Ed Enrollment: National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reported enrollment trends (no representing 76% of all institutions)
Undergraduate enrollment is also slightly lower in this report. Last month, it was down 4 percent. It's now down 4.4%. Graduate enrollment is up slightly from the last report, at 2.9% compared to 2.7%.
Black, Hispanic and Native American freshman enrollment is down by nearly 30% at community colleges
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Children and COVID: Health institute Sciensano and researchers at the KU Leuven university studied 362 schoolchildren and found that a higher number than expected had developed antibodies against COVID-19. Overall, the results of the study showed that a total of 34 children, or more than 9%, had developed antibodies for the coronavirus, suggesting a previous infection.
CDC Study Shows Spike in Children's Mental Health Challenges: CDC studied emergency room visit data from March to mid-October of this year and compared it with the same time period in 2019. Emergency room visits related to mental health increased 24% for kids between the ages of 5 and 11, and they spiked 31% among children ages 12 to 17.
STATE
DC: Teachers union and D.C. school system reach tentative agreement on in-person classes. Returning to physical classrooms will be optional for all teachers in the second quarter of the academic year, which begins next week and runs through January.
Illinois: Study shows hybrid learning is effective at slowing COVID spread in Illinois schools.
New York: Mayor Bill de Blasio said parents and students should prepare for all-remote learning as early as Monday the current spike of new coronavirus cases surpasses the predetermined threshold.
INTERNATIONAL
Ireland: Survey shows 40% of Irish citizens will not accept a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Paying Workers to Stay Home: Dr. Michael Osterholm, a newly appointed advisor to President-elect Joe Biden, discussed the idea of paying workers to stay home for 4 to 6 weeks in order to contain the coronavirus, keep Americans financially secure and sustain the U.S. economy while vaccine developments continue.
COVID Is Pushing Black Mothers Out of the Workforce at a Staggering Rate: "The report, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, found that while women in general were more likely to leave the pandemic-era labor force — likely due to the increased child-care responsibilities of having their children at home instead of at school — over twice as many Black women with children had left the workforce since the beginning of the pandemic than white women with children ( 6.4 percent drop in labor-force participation for Black women with children, as opposed to a 2.4 percent drop for white women with children)." More here.
Hershey: The company noticed that in US zip codes with high coronavirus cases, demand for its milk chocolate bar spiked between 40 and 50 percent. The reason? People were spending more time outdoors and making more S'mores
LEARNING PODS
Wi-Fi Gardens: A combined effort from the city of Temecula and Temecula Valley Unified School District resulted in the creation of Wi-Fi Gardens – a space where distanced learning students can come to login to their classes and receive help from staff and volunteers.
Cleveland Pods: The United Way of Greater Cleveland and the Cleveland Foundation created the Academic Learning Pods program to meet that need. Now, Cuyahoga County will contribute $500,000 to the program.
RESOURCES
Special Education Students, Parents Struggle with Online Learning: As many parents await the return to in-person learning for Loudoun County Public Schools, families with students with ADHD and other executive function disorders are wrestling with the complications and frustrations that come with virtual learning.
EdTech: Online learning marketplace Udemy is raising up to $100M at a $3.32B valuation.
Dave Grohl Meets Nandi Bushell: Great video. Here's the video backstory and more here.