COVID-19 Policy Update #182
COVID-19 Policy Update
MONDAY 1/19
Tonight's update pairs well with a 46th President Inauguration Cocktail, created by Washington, D.C. bartender Derek Brown who once made cocktails for the Obama White House. Because Biden himself doesn’t drink, Derek created a dry version sans-alcohol. Key ingredient is ice-cream which is truly something we can build some national unity around.
TOP THREE
How Much Learning Have Washington Students Missed? The State Doesn’t Know: Incredible piece:
"Because the data largely hasn’t been examined by race, there’s a nagging worry that those students who so often fall farthest from educational justice are being hurt most by the disparities. “I don’t know if Black and brown kids in Issaquah all sit at the bottom, or if it’s spread across the board,” Ake said."
"To get a sense of how students are doing academically, The Seattle Times requested recent academic screeners and diagnostic tests from 18 districts, representing about one third of the state’s K-12 public school enrollment."
"The responses were all over the map. Some districts, like Auburn, Bellevue, Highline and Issaquah, provided some test results. Some didn’t respond at all; others didn’t respond until a Public Records Act request was filed, then only to acknowledge it had been received."
"And on Friday, Renaissance, a company that administers the Star test, released its results for Washington’s first through eighth graders — 52,000 of them took the tests in reading and 30,000 did so in math. In literacy, the average student decreased by 1 percentile point between the fall of 2019 and 2020, compared to a national drop of 3. In math, that number fell by 12 here, compared to 15 nationally."
"Of students performing at or above grade level in January, 78% were engaged enough to take the math test in October. Of students below grade level before the pandemic, just 59% came back."
Pandemic Parent Survey: Via EdNext - do read the entire piece:
53% of students are receiving instruction entirely remotely. Only 28% of students receive all their instruction in the classroom. Parents of another 19% say their children are learning via a hybrid model (
The younger the child, the more likely the instruction is to be delivered in person.
The parents of 72% of students say they have some choice as to how their child attends school, a percentage that does not vary much by grade level.
Among parents in counties where Covid had its least cumulative impact, the parents of 39% of students report having the option of fully in-person instruction—essentially the same as the 42% of students who have the option where Covid’s impact was greatest
The parents of just 20% of students in the quartile of counties reporting the most new cases say their child attends school fully in person, as compared to 40% for students in the quartile with the fewest new cases.
parents of low-income students and parents of Black and Hispanic students are far more likely to report that their child is fully remote.
parent reports suggest that students from families in the bottom quartile of the income distribution are more likely to participate in a pod than are students from families in the top quartile.
More private schools are teaching in-person while most public schools are remote.
22% of students are attending a new school.
Principal Survey: From NAESP
Only 53% of reported receiving training from health professionals on how to conduct in-school symptom screenings for students.
Only 59% reported that they have increased ventilation in classrooms, leaving 41% who have not been able to implement this mitigation strategy.
Nearly 70% don’t have sufficient school-based mental health professionals to adequately serve all students in need of services.
82% of indicated the pandemic has hurt student attendance in their school or caused students to go missing.
FEDERAL
American Rescue Plan: Great summary and analysis from our partners at Brownstein.
ED: OET released the Teacher Digital Learning Guide and the School Leader Digital Learning Guide.
Transition:
San Diego Unified Superintendent Cindy Marten to be deputy secretary of education, the number two position in the U.S. Department of Education. More from EdSource. Also this commentary piece criticizing Gov. Newsom's reopening plan.
Rohit Choprato lead CFPB. He previously served as a CFPB assistant director and as student loan ombudsperson.
Inaugural: Stunning picture of the "Field of Flags"
COVID-19 RESEARCH
COVID Deaths: The John’s Hopkins tracker shows more than 400,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. 100,000 deaths since Dec 13.
This evening, President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris illuminated the edges of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with 400 lights as a memorial for lives lost to COVID-19. Video here.
Vaccine Distribution: More than 45,000 people in Florida are reported to be overdue for their second vaccine dose according to state data.
Vaccine Hesitancy:
Survey: Healthcare Workers and Vaccine Hesitancy
Of the 53% of healthcare workers that have already been offered the vaccine, a concerning number (15%) say they refused to take it.
Top reasons include a lack of evidence of the vaccines’ effectiveness and safety (31% cited this as the primary reason); personal safety concerns (24%); and worrying that the vaccine approval process thus far has been rushed (16%).
23% of Missourians would “definitely not get" the vaccine. 40% said they would get it right away, 23% said they would wait to see how it’s working and 11% said they would only get it if required.
35% of Nevada residents unlikely to get the vaccine.
Black Americans: Kaiser Health News reports that Black Americancs are being vaccinated at far lower rates than white Americans in the states that collect such information.
New Variant: CDC reports 122 cases of the B117 variant across 20 states, up from 88 on Friday's report. California and Florida have identified the most cases, at 40 and 46.
A Troubling New Pattern Among the Coronavirus Variants: Via the Atlantic: The most concerning versions of the virus are not simply mutating—they’re mutating in similar ways.
“Anytime when you have mutations that come up independently of each other in multiple places, it’s really a sign,” says Vineet Menachery, a coronavirus researcher at the University of Texas Medical Branch.
T"he role of each individual mutation is still unclear, but a particular mutation in the spike protein called N501Y is noteworthy because all three variants have it."
"The spike protein is how the coronavirus enters cells, and N501Y is in an especially important region called the receptor-binding domain, which latches on to the cell. An N501Y mutation may make the spike protein stickier, allowing it to bind to and enter cells more readily. Such a virus could become more transmissible."
"On the plus side, however, the mutation doesn’t seem to affect immunity from vaccines."
Paying Workers to Vaccinate: Via USA Today:
Trader Joes is paying its workers $25 to offset them taking time to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dollar General, which operates nearly 17,000 stores in 46 states, said it will give employees the equivalent of four hours of pay if they get the vaccine.
STATE
California:
Gov. Newsom launched an online hub for information about reopening schools
Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner is calling on state and local health officials to immediately allow the district to turn its more than 1,400 schools into vaccination sites, focusing on shots for teachers and school staff in what would become California's biggest education vaccine push
Colorado: Love this headline: "Drool for School: Colorado schools add saliva testing to slow spread of coronavirus in the classroom."
Illinois:
150 employees were docked pay and locked out of Chicago Public Schools systems earlier this week as punishment for refusing to show up for the start of in-person classes over COVID-19 concerns
How LaGrange School District 102 got kids back in the classroom during COVID-19.
Around 70% of students are going in person, thanks to a saliva testing system.
The district converted its science center into a lab that now processes tests from students in three districts.
Massachusetts: The Leominster Teacher’s Union President is drawing criticism after closing public schools but sending her son to a Catholic school where masks are not required.
Maryland: Johns Hopkins Medicine to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Baltimore City Public Schools employees
Minnesota: Is launching COVID-19 vaccine sites for teachers, child care workers, seniors
New York: Gov. Cuomo asks Pfizer to directly sell COVID-19 vaccine doses to the state.
Oregon: Portland Public Schools announced an agreement with the Union to begin limited in-person instruction for some students around Jan. 25.
Washington: The state is tapping Starbucks for help with COVID vaccine rollout. #aLatteVaccines
INTERNATIONAL
Europe’s Schools Are Closing Again on Concerns They Spread COVID-19: Via WSJ
“In the second wave we acquired much more evidence that schoolchildren are almost equally, if not more infected by SARS-CoV-2 than others,“ said Antoine Flahault, director of the University of Geneva’s Institute of Global Health.
“The problem is not that schools are unsafe for children,” Mr. Johnson said last week. “The problem is schools may nonetheless act as vectors for transmission, causing the virus to spread between households.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Credential Transparency & P-20W Data Systems: New Credential Engine policy brief on aligning education and employment information to meet state talent goals
Moving Out: In a poll of 150 C-suite executives conducted by the consulting firm West Monroe, 29% of companies reported they were considering moving major operations or headquarters to another state or country. More via Axios.
"Not surprisingly, the No. 1 destination under consideration was Texas, followed by Florida — two states with generally low costs of living and low tax burdens."
Good Jobs for All: How Federal Laws Can Create Pathways From Education and Training to Good Jobs: Via CAP.
LEARNING PODS
ELL Pods: In Cleveland:
"Cleveland nonprofit Esperanza, Inc. is fulfilling an important need for a small number of Hispanic Cleveland Metropolitan School District students during the pandemic: A safe place, with reliable Internet, and a staff poised to help at a moment’s notice (in English or Spanish)."
"The learning pod at Esperanza is one of 24 locations in Cleveland—funded by the Cleveland Foundation and United Way of Cleveland—where almost 800 CMSD students go daily to do their virtual-only classwork."
At CMSD, the average daily log-in rate during fall 2020 was close to 64% compared to less than half of ELL in Chicago and LAUSD
RESOURCES
Everything We Know Now About Schools, Kids, and COVID-19: Via WIRED.
"The first is that children are, as a whole, less susceptible to the worst outcomes of Covid-19 than people over the age of 18."
"People who had the virus spread it to half of their household companions. (In the earlier studies from China, it had been more like 20 to 30 percent.) And it didn’t matter whether it was a kid or an adult who brought SARS-CoV-2 home, they transmitted it to their family at similar rates."
"Currently, the CDC estimates that people who aren’t showing symptoms are responsible for nearly 60 percent of all SARS-CoV-2 infections in the US—though more than half of them will go on to develop symptoms later."
COVID Lessons From Private School That Stayed Open: Good piece from Colorado:
A senior at Holy Family, Michael White says it was also about students taking it upon themselves to do the right thing.“Especially as seniors, my class was able to set the precedence that, hey, this is a privilege to be here and we need to take it seriously,” White says
The school installed a thermal camera, created one-way hallways based on health guidelines, installed a dinated $100,000 special air purification system, spaced out kids in the classroom, and required masks. During lunch, the lunchroom has a to-go menu, so kids generally eat outside or in the gymnasium spaced apart.
“We looked at models that we’ve seen over in Europe with schools being successful over there,” Hauptly said.
Less than 1% of the school community of 700 students and 100 staff became infected, and there’s no evidence any of those cases were connected to each other, let alone the school.
Pandemic Teacher Shortages Imperil In-Person Schooling: Via the NYT. In fairness, this was foreseeable. AASA has been warning about this since May and AEI even mentioned it back in June.
Khan Academy: Elon Musk donates $5 million to the Khan Academy.
National Guard: Some teachers that have been called up, are teaching remotely from DC. Another story here.
Where Teachers Are Eligible for Vaccines:
Celebrating the Life of MLK: And reflecting on his words and the implications they have for us today. Some quotes I've seen shared by many of you yesterday:
“You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."
“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.”
"Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away & the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, & in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love & brotherhood will shine over our great nation."
"I am convinced that men hate each other because they fear each other. They fear each other because they don’t know each other and they don’t know each other because they don’t communicate with each other, and they don’t communicate with each other because they are separated from each other. And God grant that something will happen to open channels of communication, that something will happen because men of goodwill will rise to the level of leadership."