COVID-19 Policy Update #199
COVID-19 Policy Update
FRIDAY 2/12
TOP THREE
CDC: Released updated guidance today.
“Evidence suggests that many K-12 schools that have strictly implemented mitigation strategies have been able to safely open for in-person instruction and remain open”
Mitigation efforts:
Universal and correct use of masks
Physical distancing
Handwashing and respiratory etiquette
Cleaning and maintaining healthy facilities
Contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine, in collaboration with the health department
“K-12 schools should be the last settings to close after all other mitigation measures in the community have been employed, and the first to reopen when they can do so safely.”
"Schools that serve populations at risk for learning loss during virtual instruction should be prioritized for reopening and be provided the needed resources to implement mitigation. "
"When implementing phased mitigation in hybrid learning modes, schools should consider prioritizing in-person instruction for students with disabilities who may require special education and related services directly provided in school environments, as well as other students who may benefit from receiving essential instruction in a school setting."
"Screening testing can be used as an additional layer of mitigation to complement mitigation strategies in schools."
"Understanding racial/ethnic differences in parental attitudes and concerns about school reopening can inform communication and mitigation strategies and highlights the importance of considering risks for severe COVID-19 and family resource needs when developing options for school attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic."
The CDC consolidated their previous five color coded zones into four reflecting community transmission. And changed the duration from 14 days to 7 days.
These new color codes also correspond to types of instruction based on community spread: Full in-person; Hybrid; Reduced attendance; Virtual-only
Screening assessments aren't required but "routine screening testing of students offered once per week" for schools in yellow, orange, or red.
Schools may consider testing a random sample of at least 10% of students or may conduct pooled testing of cohorts/pods for screening testing in areas of moderate and substantial community transmission.
This guidance is also very focused on "cohorting" students in a way the previous CDC guidance wasn't: "Schools are encouraged to use cohorting or podding of students, especially in moderate (yellow), substantial (orange), and high (red) levels, to facilitate testing and contact tracing, and to minimize transmission across pods."
Reactions:
NEA: “I believe that the CDC has done their due diligence in following the science and reaching the conclusion that if schools put in place all of these mitigation factors and they have the resources, then it is safe to return to in-person learning."
AFT: “For the first time since the start of this pandemic, we have a rigorous road map, based on science, that our members can use to fight for a safe reopening."
AASA: "We applaud the CDC and the U.S. Dept. of Education for the coordinated and collaborative effort to provide clear, actionable guidance that school system leaders can incorporate into their reopening plans."
Coverage: NYT, Washington Post, WSJ, EdWeek, The 74, NPR.
My quick reactions:
This is mostly the same guidance that has been in place for months. If a school feels it can safely reopen now, it likely could have safely reopen before today.
The mitigation measures are essentially unchanged and in some ways don't even reflect the upgraded mask requirements the CDC issued this week.
The color codes are slightly modified from the September guidance. But moving the period from 14 to 7 days is significant and isn't really explained/justified. It likely means that most schools are in Orange/Red. More from Joseph Allen here and Emily Oster here.
The real question is if any state is going to change their color coding/threshold system. So far, I haven't seen any Governor indicate plans to do so.
All of these changes are backed up by only 25 references/citations. Shockingly small given the significant research base that has been amassed over the last year. Even some of the more recent CDC studies aren't referenced.
All of that said, this may help some groups that dismissed the Trump-era CDC's guidance. Hopefully it gets more kids safely back into school.
Children Less Likely to Infect Others: New study found children under the age of 20 are about half as susceptible to COVID-19 infection as adults, and they are less likely to infect others. Also implications for PCR testing:
"Analysis of joint PCR/serological data shows that there is under-detection of infections in the PCR testing, which is more substantial in children. However, the differences in detection rates are not sufficient to account for the differences in PCR positive rates in the two age groups."
The Perfect Storm: Hidden Risk of Child Maltreatment During the Covid-19 Pandemic: New study on two surveys:
Survey of 405 parents found increased physical and verbal conflict and neglect which were associated with their perceived stress and loneliness.
Survey of 106 enrolled in a longitudinal study reported increased parent-child conflict, which was associated with concurrent child abuse risk, with several links to employment loss, food insecurity, and loneliness; findings also demonstrated increases in abuse risk and psychological aggression relative to pre-pandemic levels.
FEDERAL
ED: Released a COVID-19 Handbook Volume 1: Strategies for Safely ReopeningElementary and Secondary Schools
COVID Relief Package:
The House Education and Labor Committee released the text of its reconciliation bill in response to the Budget Resolution passed the prior week and subsequently approved it on a 27-21 party line vote this week.
Confirmations:
The Senate HELP Committee voted 17-5 to advance the nomination of Commissioner Miguel Cardona to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education.
The Committee voted 18-4 to advance the nomination of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor.
STATE
Arizona:
Kyrene School District performing home visits for students struggling with virtual learning
Parent Education Academy helps parents navigate distance learning.
"During the six-week course, parents learn the ins and outs of the school system, but also get valuable training that may lead to real careers in education. "We are training parents to become instructional assistants," Parra said. "They are going to be teamed up with teachers from our school sites and they will become a teaching team."
California: Interactive maps show private schools resuming in-person instruction where public schools aren't
Illinois: Raise Your Hand for Illinois, an education advocacy group for parents, created a list of demands for the district, calling for more transparency, increased spending on remote learning and a meeting with CPS leadership.
New York: Judge rules against Buffalo Teachers Federation, says Buffalo schools can stay open
North Carolina: Some districts consider cutting summer break short to address learning loss.
Pennsylvania:
Philly Superintendent Hite says that buildings are safe for in-person instruction to begin on Feb. 22.
Kiski Area looks to data quantifying ‘learning loss’ during pandemic
South Carolina: Every school district has been matched with a COVID-19 vaccine provider
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Lifetime Earnings Effects of the COVID-19 Recession for Students: Via Opportunity Insights.
Graduates entering the labor market directly from high school in 2020 and 2021 will have average income losses of 7.2% and 5.1% across their lifetime ($88.8K and $62.5K respectively).
Similarly, college graduates entering the labor force in these years are likely to face total lifetime earnings losses of 3.8% and 2.6% ($115.9K and $81.6K)
Social Capital: Researchers identify social factors inoculating some communities against coronavirus
"Communities with high amounts of interconnectedness and communal trust — what experts call social capital — experienced less severe coronavirus outbreaks in 2020, according to research published in the journal PLOS One."
UI: The number of Americans receiving unemployment assistance jumped by 2.6 million, rising to more than 20.3 million.
Many Jobless Workers Aren’t Getting Help: NYT Editorial Board.
Unemployment Insurance, Job Search, and Spending During the Pandemic: New study from JP Morgan. Congress enacted a $600-per-week unemployment insurance (UI) supplement beginning in April 2020, resulting in jobless benefits which exceeded earnings for the typical jobless worker through the end of July 2020.
Critics of the policy have suggested that the $600 supplement may have discouraged unemployed workers from searching for jobs. Proponents have argued that generous UI benefits allowed jobless workers to maintain their livelihoods.
"We find little evidence that elevated unemployment insurance benefits discouraged people from returning to work."
"As of October 2020, almost half of jobless workers were facing long-term unemployment, and many others were experiencing repeat unemployment spells."
"Spending and saving of jobless workers have been strongly correlated with the availability of supplemental unemployment insurance benefits during the pandemic. We estimate that for every dollar of supplemental unemployment insurance, the median unemployed family has spent between 29 and 43 cents more than they otherwise would have."
Family Feud: Child Allowance Edition: The Niskanen Center’s Samuel Hammond and AEI's Scott Winship debate the case for a “child allowance” over at the American Compass.
RESOURCES
Biden is Accused of Shifting Goal Posts on Reopening Schools as CDC Readies New Guidelines: Via USA Today
The Teachers Unions Roll Over Biden: WSJ Editorial Board: "Even a $130 billion bribe won’t get them back in the classroom this school year."
Randi Weingarten: On returning to full in-person learning by fall: “I am confident that if we’ve been able to tackle whatever variant comes our way and have the herd immunity that vaccination promises, I am confident that we will- that fall 2021 will look a lot more normal than we have right now.”
A Rolling National Teacher Strike Is Why Schools Are Closed: Derrell Bradford in EdNext.
3 Teachers On The Push To Return To The Classroom: Via NPR.
Tutoring as an Emergency Response: Video from 50CAN's event.
Catholic Schools Show Way to Reopen: OpEd in USA Today.
Educators Weigh the Value of Standardized Testing During a Pandemic: Good piece exploring the difficult decisions facing states and districts.
"When schools in Columbus, Ohio, opened up classrooms this fall for the state’s third grade reading exam, just over a third of students showed up. The rest stayed home, for reasons district leaders can only guess at."
“It’s a lot of anxiety and stress in a year that has already had an unprecedented amount of stress,” said Ryan Brown, chief communications officer for the South Carolina Department of Education, which wants to substitute a series of interim assessments for a big end-of-year one."
"In Oklahoma, Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said the tests will help the state allocate $665 million it received in the second round of federal stimulus money to schools with the greatest need.
State Data & Student Privacy Bills: The FPF Youth and Education Privacy team has reviewed 134 bills for possible impacts for student and children's privacy.
Data Finds Students Falling Behind in Math During Pandemic: Analysts have been tracking the progress of 800,000 students on Zearn’s online math platform. The results show students from low-income zip codes are especially struggling to keep up with online lessons.
COVID Simulations: Mathematica is collaborating with the University of California, San Diego, to simulate SARS-CoV-2 transmission among students, faculty, and staff to help guide its reopening.
What 114 Pre-Pandemic Studies About ‘Flipped’ Classrooms Could Tell Us About Refining Our Approach to Remote Learning in 2021: Via The 74.
Pigs Can Play Video Games With their Snouts: Scientists find. Has nothing to do with COVID or education, I just thought it was interesting. And might explain why I keep losing in COD MW.
Millennials and Generation Z: Agents of Change: Echelon Insights survey for WFF. Lots of good data in these 58 pages.
#NationalRoastDay: In case you missed it, NationalRoastDay is when other Twitter brands ask Wendy’s to roast them. And the results were hysterical as Microsoft, Reddit, Toyota, Outback, the History Channel, and others lined up.
Ladies and Gentlemen: The Weekend.