COVID-19 Policy Update #221
COVID-19 Policy Update
WEDNESDAY 3/17
TOP THREE
ED:
Will hold a National Safe School Reopening Summit on Wednesday, March 24
Released Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds for all 50 states today.
IES:
Launched the national survey of students in grades 4 and 8 asking questions related to modality of learning and amount of interaction with teachers.
Questions here.
Missing: Any digital divide questions which we were expecting to see on this survey.
IES is exploring a partnership with NSF around the use of AI in education
HHS: Released $12 billion for COVID testing, $10 billion of which is reserved for schools (scroll down for the amount allocated to each state)
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Vaccine Trials for Children: Moderna announced it will begin trials for children as young as 6 months old and up to 11
STATE
California:
The Pasadena teachers union sent a “cease and desist demand” to the Pasadena Unified School District, calling on officials to delay school reopening citing safety concerns.
California could allow school districts to choose their own standardized tests this year
Florida: Via WSJ: "Florida Schools Reopened Without Becoming Covid-19 Superspreaders"
"In the seven months since, Florida schools have avoided major outbreaks of Covid-19 and maintained case rates lower than those in the wider community. Mr. Corcoran said 80% of students in Florida are now attending schools in-person full- or part-time."
"Florida consistently has had lower rates of Covid-19 in schools than in the community at large, according to a data dashboard created by Brown University."
"School reopenings ended up being safer than many feared, said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, a teachers union that unsuccessfully sued Florida to try to stop the executive order. But he criticized the state for failing to enforce federal guidelines on mask mandates and air ventilation, and not giving priority to school employees for Covid-19 vaccines."
Massachusetts: Boston-based Barr Foundation poll:
63% of white residents said they were “very” or “somewhat” concerned about mental and emotional well-being, compared to 52% of Black and Latino parents, and 57% of Asian ones.
"The support for summer school extended across all racial and socioeconomic groups polled, but was especially strong among Black and Latino parents; 73% and 70%, respectively, preferred summer school."
Missouri: Rockwood, Parkway, Wentzville, Mehlville, Ritenour, and St. Louis Public Schools have said they will continue to provide virtual learning this fall and beyond.
Virginia: Fairfax will return to 'near normal' five days a week of in-person learning this fall
"Fairfax shrank by more than 8,700 students between last year and this one, losing about 4.6 percent of its student body. Some went in search of in-person learning."
RESOURCES
The 6-Foot Covid Rule Is Keeping Kids Out of Class: Bloomberg Editorial
Lessons from Virtual Education: The Education Labs at The Dallas Morning News, AL.com, The Fresno Bee and The Seattle Times partnered with the Christian Science Monitor, The Hechinger Report and the Solutions Journalism Network. Great collection of stories here.
Virtual Learning Might Be the Best Thing to Happen to Schools: Via The Atlantic
"Innovating on the fly, navigating uncertainty, maintaining hope for the future, communicating effectively, and relying on networks of people and community resources to overcome challenges are just some of the skills kids are developing during this time."
"These types of competencies—ones that children of color have typically brought to the classroom with little acknowledgment—are part of what Tara Yosso, an education professor at UC Riverside, calls “community cultural wealth.”
"Educators have learned to use new tools to meet children where they are, emotionally and intellectually, rather than applying one-size-fits-all models. All of these advances can persist with in-person schooling. Thanks to distance learning, children will also benefit from increased accessibility to virtual schooling options when personal circumstances take them away from physical classrooms in the future. And schools can continue to promote a pedagogy that tends to children’s social and emotional needs even after this period of collective mourning has passed."
Children's Mental Health: Common Sense Media, Hopelab, and the California Health Care Foundation released a report today.
38% of teenagers and young adults reported experiencing symptoms of moderate-to-severe depression.
"Forty-three percent of respondents said that using social media when stressed, depressed, or anxious made them feel better, compared with just 17 percent who said it made them feel worse. That gap has grown by 14 points since 2018."
A-Team: The actual van used for the television show the A-Team is up for auction. Has nothing to do with COVID or education, but everything to do with my childhood.
How Online Education and Tutoring Can Fight COVID Learning Loss: Via Axios
What Will The Financial Turmoil Mean For Public Education? Edunomics resources including recorded webinars and slide decks. Some incredible analysis in these decks.
Zoom Escaper: Lets you sabotage your own meetings with audio problems, crying babies, and more
Breathe: Expertly coaches his little brother through a tantrum-ending breathing exercise