COVID-19 Policy Update #213
COVID-19 Policy Update
FRIDAY 3/5
TOP THREE
Rhode Island Scholarship for Children Who Lost a Parent: Treasurer Magaziner launched a Frontline Heroes Fund which would provide a $2,500 CollegeBound Saver Account Scholarships for the children of frontline workers who died from COVID-19
Learning Loss: An optional exam that 90,000 New Jersey students took in this fall suggests that roughly 1 in 3 may need “strong support” academically.
Language Arts (Grades 4-10)
34% strong support may be needed
21% some support may be needed
45% less support may be needed
Math (Grades 4-10)
38% strong support may be needed
28% some support may be needed
34% less support may be needed
Science (Grades 5, 8, 11)
57% strong support may be needed
28% some support may be needed
15% less support may be needed
NPR/Ipsos Poll: NPR story. Topline / Data.
Two-thirds support going back to in-person learning as soon as teachers are vaccinated.
Eight in ten parents support structured social, emotional and mental health support for their child
64% support intensive academic assessments before returning to the classroom.
Black and Hispanic parents were far more likely than white parents to say their children were all remote — 65% for Black parents, 57% for Hispanic parents and 38% for white parents.
More than 4 out of 5 would like to see schools provide targeted extra services to help their kids catch up. This includes just over half of parents who support the idea of summer school.
I am worried that my child will be behind when the pandemic is over: 48% total agree / 52% total disagree.
How likely is it that your school will offer full-time, in-person learning this coming fall: 75% total likely.
If the following programs were made available, how much, if at all, would your child benefit from them?
Individual, detailed assessment of your child's progress 82%
One-on-one tutoring 80%
Social and emotional wellness programs 79%
Better digital or software-based practice programs 77%
Mental health counseling 68%
Extra in-person learning time, like additional school days or extended-day programs 65%
FEDERAL
White House: Announced additional staff including:
Charles Anderson, Director of Economic Policy and Budget for the COVID-19 Response Team
Sam Berger, Director of Strategic Operations and Policy for the COVID-19 Response Team
Philip Giudice, Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy (DPC)
Chiraag Bains, Special Assistant to the President for Criminal Justice (DPC)
Kelliann Blazek, Special Assistant to the President for Agriculture and Rural Policy (DPC)
Pronita Gupta, Special Assistant to the President for Labor and Workers (DPC)
Catherine Oakar, Special Assistant to the President for Community Public Health and Disparities (DPC)
Erin Pelton, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the Domestic Policy Advisor (DPC)
Donald K. Sherman, Special Assistant to the President for Racial and Economic Justice (DPC)
Maureen Tracey-Mooney, Special Assistant to the President for Education (DPC)
Leandra English, Special Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff for the National Economic Council (NEC)
Seth D. Harris, Deputy Assistant to the President for Labor and Economy (NEC)
Daniel Hornung, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy (NEC)
Elisabeth Reynolds, Special Assistant to the President for Manufacturing and Economic Development (NEC)
Tim Wu, Special Assistant to the President for Technology and Competition Policy (NEC)
COVID-19 RESEARCH
FDA Authorizes Cue Health's COVID-19 Test for At-Home and Over The Counter Use: Press release / FDA approval. More about the test here.
Study on School Buses: New study:
"This study demonstrates that wearing of masks reduced the overall particle count released into the bus by an average of 50% or more depending on mask quality and reduced the dispersion distance by several feet."
"The study also demonstrates an 84.36% reduction in aerosol particles and an 80.28% reduction in the mean aerosol residence time for some test cases."
"The optimal air exchange configuration of all windows and accessible roof hatches along with dashboard fans resulted had significant reductions in the overall particle count AUC, an average of 84% on school buses and 50% on transit buses"
"By adding the retrofit MERV-13 air filters to the HVAC return air vent in the back of the transit bus, the effectiveness of removing aerosol particles increased significantly. The resulting particle count AUC with the air filters resulted in an average of 93.95% improvement with aerosols dispersed from a middle location during bus in-motion testing"
V-safe After Vaccination Health Checker: V-safe is a CDC smartphone-based app that uses text messaging and web surveys to provide personalized health check-ins after someone receives a COVID-19 vaccine. It also provides second appointment reminders.
How Schools Can Help with the Vaccination Rollout : Richard Barth has some ideas.
School Transmission Research: Study will explore the level of COVID-19 transmission in Vancouver schools
New Variants: New study that found individuals infected with B.1.1.7 variant in Denmark had an increased risk of hospitalization of an estimated 64% compared with individuals infected with other lineages of SARS-CoV-2
COVID Forecasting: By combining a range of private and public information, Data Driven Health says it is able to predict COVID-19 hot spots at the neighborhood level a week out — with 92% accuracy.
STATE
Alaska: Percent of Anchorage students on track for graduation drops 10%
California: Volunteers help 1,000 San Bernardino students overcome distance learning impediments
Florida: All teachers regardless of age will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccines under federal guidelines.
"Our view is, if you're 25, you're just at less risk than somebody that's 80, that's just the bottom line," DeSantis said at a news conference in Crystal River. "The age-based approach we think is the most effective to reduce mortality, you know at the same time, the federal government's the one sending us the vaccine, if they want it to be for all ages, then they have the ability to go and do that."
Maryland: State Board of Education votes to delay standardized tests until fall
Maryland State Education Association: “Educators understand that what our students need right now isn’t mandated standardized testing, but instructional time, opportunities to learn and be with their classmates, and time to address their social-emotional well-being and any trauma caused by the pandemic.”
"School Superintendent Karen Salmon said the tests given in the fall would be diagnostic tests, not the full assessments. The English diagnostic test is 2 hours, 20 minutes and the math test is 1 hour, 20 minutes, both about half the time of the full assessments."
Ohio: Cleveland Teachers Union voted to continue remote learning.
South Dakota: Teachers are now eligible to receive the vaccine.
Tennessee: Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Dr. Adrienne Battle committed to the “Every Student Known” initiative, pledging to implement personalized learning plans that match the individuality of our children for the Fall 2021 school year.
Virginia: Arlington Public Schools data suggests that more secondary students are failing classes and their average GPA has dropped. The number of 6th grade students failing at least one class increased 118%.
INTERNATIONAL
Canada: Edmonton Public Schools will continue to offer online learning next school year
Last month, Edmonton Catholic Schools said it will offer online programming for the 2021-22 school year.
Italy: A rapidly spreading variant is causing higher infections among children.
UK: Cyber attack shuts down online learning at 15 schools
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Jobs Report:
The economy added 379,000 jobs in February, surpassing forecasts of 210,000
Unemployment rate ticked down to 6.2 percent.
January job growth revised higher to 166,000 vs previously reported 49,000
December revised reflecting a steeper loss of 306,000 vs previously reported 227,000
CEA's blog post which includes this Labor Force Participation graph
Stockton’s Basic-Income Experiment: Article in the Atlantic on results of an early evaluation.
"Pilot sent payments of $500 a month to 125 randomly selected individuals living in neighborhoods with average incomes lower than the city median of $46,000 a year."
"Households getting the cash saw their month-to-month earnings fluctuate 46 percent, versus the control group’s 68 percent."
"The families receiving the $500 a month tended to spend the money on essentials, including food, home goods, utilities, and gas."
"The cash also doubled the households’ capacity to pay unexpected bills, and allowed recipient families to pay down their debts."
Childcare: Via AEI: A big stake in the ground for universal childcare via the American Rescue Plan
Kroger Automated Warehouse: The grocery store rolled out delivery of the first online order from its automated warehouse in Ohio, a robotic facility operated under the grocer's partnership with Ocado.
The initial delivery came as Kroger announced that it saw a 116% jump in digital sales in 2020.
RESOURCES
A Year of COVID-19: What It Looked Like for Schools: EdWeek takes us back over the events of the last year.
Teacher Shortages: New LPI report "COVID-19 Is Worsening Already Critical Teacher Shortages, Potentially Jeopardizing School Openings". Policy considerations:
Sustain and deepen investments in high-retention pathways
Provide financial support to teacher candidates
Streamline teacher licensure requirements
Create sustainable teacher workloads
Support teachers with adequate substitute staffing
Invest in educator development and support
States Grapple with Standardized Testing during Pandemic: Greg Toppo with a good piece at Education Next.
The GOP’s Big 2022 Issue: School Reopening: Via US News & World Report.
Restaurants Innovated as a Result of COVID-19. Education Largely Did Not. The Opportunity May Slip Away: Rotherham Reflects.
Ed Tech:
GSV Ventures announced that it has raised $180 million for its second fund.
CourseKey announced that it has raised $9 million in a Series B round. The company works with more than 200 career colleges and has worked with organizations that teach groups of essential workers, from plumbers to dental assistants.
Coursera filed for an IPO. Their platform is used by more than 3,700 colleges and universities. The company reported that revenue rose 59% to $293.5 million last year.
Newsela announced that it has raised $100 million in a Series D round, bringing it's valuation to unicorn status.
SEL provider Project Wayfinder raised $1.5 million in a seed round from Reach Capital, Evolve Ventures and Sorenson Impact Ventures.
Mama, Can I Get a Kitty? Asks this puppy.