COVID-19 Policy Update #216
COVID-19 Policy Update
WEDNESDAY 3/10
TOP THREE
Reading Loss: Policy Analysis for California Education released a new study:
Examined 250,000 oral reading fluency scores for students in first through third grade last spring and fall in over 100 school districts across 22 states.
They found yearly gains in oral reading fluency were 26% lower than expected based on prior years for the second-graders and 33% lower for the third-graders.
3 ft vs 6 ft: New study out today from a group of researchers, including Emily Oster. Findings :
The researchers examined 251 school districts in Massachusetts serving 537,336 students and 99,390 staff who attended in-person instruction during a 16-week study period. (Represents 6,400,175 student learning weeks and 1,342,574 staff learning weeks)
"Student case rates were similar in the 242 districts with >3 feet versus >6 feet of physical distancing between students"
"The practical implication of a 6 feet of distancing recommendation is that many schools are unable to open for full-in person learning, or at all, due to physical limitations of school infrastructure"
"Three-feet of physical distancing is more easily achieved in most school districts, including public ones, and thus, relaxing distancing requirements would likely have the impact of increasing the number of students who are able to benefit from additional in-person learning"
Conclusion: "Lower physical distancing policies can be adopted in school settings with masking mandates without negatively impacting student or staff safety."
Powerful chart in this MA presentation.
Special Preview: I wanted to give you a sneak peak at a report (embargoed until Thursday) that summarizes more than 130 studies related to children, COVID, and school reopenings. Some toplines:
The vast majority of research from around the world suggests that children comprise a small proportion of diagnosed COVID-19 cases, develop less severe illness, and have lower mortality rates.
Evidence points to schools mirroring the transmission rates of their communities. Schools themselves do not appear to drive community transmission.
Protective measures such as mask wearing, physically distancing, increasing hygiene regimens, and improving ventilation add layers of protection that can mitigate risks for students and school staff. COVID-19 vaccinations, symptomatic testing and isolating potentially infected individuals, and asymptomatic COVID-19 screening tests offer additional preventive benefits.
A growing number of studies are giving us a picture of the "costs" of remote learning in terms of learning loss which will translate into earnings loss; increased mental health challenges; and more than 1.7 million mothers who left the workforce due to school closures. These costs have to be weighed against any public health benefit associated with closing schools.
An amazing group co-published this: The COVID Collaborative, United States of Care, the Walton Family Foundation, Opportunity Labs, the Evidence Project, and AEI.
The report will go live tomorrow at 6am at AEI and on the Evidence Project's website.
This email group inspired the report. I noticed we were including summaries of studies in the daily updates (e.g. see tonight's with studies from PACE and Oster) but there didn't seem to be a place aggregating them. Hope this helps leaders with the difficult decisions they're confronting in the weeks ahead and is useful in supporting your work.
FEDERAL
American Rescue Plan:
Passed the House today and is headed to the President for his signature, which we expect to happen Friday. Will share summaries soon.
Sen. Schumer believes latest relief package will allow all schools to reopen fully by September
STATE
Alabama: The Summer Adventures in Learning (SAIL) is providing nearly $1 million in funding to more than 50 summer learning programs across the state.
California: LA teachers' union reaches tentative deal with LAUSD to reopen school in mid-April.
"Under the plan, preschoolers would have full-day in-person instruction, while elementary schoolers will use a hybrid model combining some time in class and the rest online. Class sessions will be staggered, with some students going in the morning and others in the afternoon to keep classes small enough to permit social distancing."
"Students in middle and high schools will continue learning online, although they can return to campus “for peer interaction, social-emotional learning and lessons for college and career exploration,” according to the statement."
Illinois: New state guidance for in-person instruction.
Allows schools to operate with 3 ft of distancing
Maine: The number of children between the ages of 5 and 11 going to the emergency room for mental health-related issues has increased 24% since the start of the pandemic.
Massachusetts: All public elementary schools will be required to open for full-time, in-person learning by April 5, while middle schools will be required to do so April 28.
Missouri: Missouri Online will bring together all the online programs currently offered by the system’s four universities -- the University of Missouri at Columbia, the University of Missouri at Kansas City, Missouri University of Science and Technology, and the University of Missouri at St. Louis.
New Jersey: New bill would allow parents to decide if they want to have their children repeat their current grade.
North Carolina: Gov. Cooper and leaders from the General Assembly have come to an agreement to reopen schools.
All elementary schools must operate under Plan A, which is full in-person learning.
Districts will have the option for Plan A or Plan B/hybrid learning for middle and high school students.
Any districts moving to entirely in-person learning must inform the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and describe their safety plan.
Virginia: Via FPF: Virginia HB 2307/SB 1392 (CDPA) was signed into law by the Governor on March 2, 2021, making Virginia the second state to enact a comprehensive privacy law. The child privacy provisions of the law are similar to those proposed in the Washington Privacy Act, requiring controllers collecting data from a known child to collect verifiable parental consent prior to processing the child’s data and to perform a data protection assessment. Because the new law exempts government entities and data covered by FERPA, it is not anticipated that the CDPA will have a large impact in the education context. FPF has more.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
More Government Assistance Is Coming Soon, But Will It Reach Those Who Need It Most? Good post from Code for America - particularly given the incredible amounts of funding that will soon flood some legacy tech systems
JPMorgan Chase Awards National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation $250,000 to Create Pathways to Advancement: Will expand an apprenticeship program.
Expanding Opportunity: State and Local Policy Agenda for Economic Mobility: New report from the Bush Institute:
Strengthen cities as quality-of-life centers where people will choose to live and work
Plan for a more geographically decentralized and digitally connected model of work
Build on the central role of ‘anchor institutions’
Create new paths from education to the workforce
Promote small business development
Expand housing supply and affordability
Promote homeownership and other avenues of wealth accumulation
Redefining Rural: Towards a Better Understanding of Geography, Demography, and Economy in America’s Rural Places: New report from EIG
On average, rural places lag behind non-rural places on nearly every measure of prosperity from poverty rates to labor force participation.
The average poverty rate in rural areas is nearly three percentage points higher than in non-rural areas. The biggest gap between rural and non-rural welfare is in the South.
From 2014 to 2018, 43.4 percent of rural counties experienced negative employment growth compared with just 16.6 percent of non-rural counties.
91 percent of rural counties lost prime working age population from 2010 to 2019 and 51 percent lost 10 percent or more.
RESOURCES
Schools Bet on Pool Testing to Keep Classrooms Safe: Via Axios
"Masks, ventilation, distancing is how you create a safe space and then regular testing is how you create confidence in your workers that you’ve done that."
"Atlanta Public Schools is investing $2 million in surveillance testing. Massachusetts is testing 300,000 students a week, ready to spend $5 million on tests."
Modeling: Color released an interactive model that shows the best plans to reopen schools safely.
School Nurses: Expanded roles with Covid-19 vaccinations, contact tracing
K-12 Parents Tend to Want Their Kids Back in School: Via Economist/YouGov
How Do Americans Really Feel About Reopening Schools? Brown University poll
"I find that survey respondents from low-income households are almost 20 percentage points less likely to support reopening schools (35 percent) compared with those in high-income households (54 percent)."
"Latinx Americans (33 percent) are less likely than White Americans (47 percent) to support reopening schools — and that support deficit widens when comparing preferences of Black Americans and White Americans."
How Education Funders Can Support Nonprofits and Schools Differently to Keep Students Learning During and After COVID-19. Good thoughts from Anu Malipatil of the Overdeck Family Foundation.
Every Single Park Hang in San Francisco: Right now. "Oh they're raising a SPAC? He can't make it, it's deal season. Sorry I just have to send this one Slack. Substack. NFTs. Distributed workforce." H/T to Romy for sharing.