COVID-19 Policy Update #264
COVID-19 Policy Update
THURSDSAY 5/27
TOP THREE
New Data on the Ways Full-Time Remote Learners Lost Out: Via EdWeek
"While RAND found that about 90 percent of fully remote schools provided at least one synchronous, or live, class per day, students learning from home still received less instructional time on average than their peers in schools."
"The survey found that fully remote elementary schools offered, on average, 110 fewer minutes of English/language arts, 80 fewer minutes of mathematics, and 40 fewer minutes of natural sciences than schools that were fully in person."
"Only 15 percent of teachers in fully remote schools and 19 percent of teachers in hybrid settings—compared with 35 percent of their counterparts in fully in-person settings—said they had covered all or nearly all of what they would cover in a more normal year."
Young Americans Are Lagging with Covid-19 Vaccines: Via CNN
ED: Released another FAQ on ESSER and GEER funding
FEDERAL
Infrastructure: “Senate Republicans presented a $928 billion infrastructure plan to the White House, closing the gap with the White House’s latest $1.7 trillion offer as the two sides attempt to break an impasse over the scope of an infrastructure package and how to pay for it." Proposal.
$506 B roads, bridges, etc
$98 B for public transit
$46 B for passenger and freight rail
$21 B for safety
$22 B for ports and waterways
$56 B for airports
$22 B for western water storage
$72 B for water infrastructure
$65 B for broadband
$20 B for infrastructure financing
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Influencers Offered Money to Discredit Vaccine: Via Washington Post: “Several European influencers say they have been offered money to use their social media presence to discourage their millions of followers from receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine by a suspicious agency that French officials reportedly think could be linked to Russia.”
Children and Masks: Children should keep masking up, CDC director says, even as some experts question the need
Survey of States' Covid-19 Vaccine Websites Shows Accessibility Problems: An analysis of state websites for information on Covid-19 finds that many of them had accessibility issues.
Researchers found that seven states did not enable complete viewing on a smartphone, and nine states only had information in English.
The majority of states also presented their information in such a way that it would have required a post-high-school reading level to be understandable.
Although half of states provided web-based scheduling for vaccine appointments, most of them required the user to search multiple sites individually for an appointment.
STATE
Minnesota: Northern Minnesota school district cancels vaccination clinic after anti-vaxxer group objects
New Jersey:
NJ Summer Tutoring Corps Program names Katherine Bassett inaugural director
Remote learning let some NJ kids log in from around the globe. Is that a sign of the future?
New York: Governor Cuomo announced New York State will raffle off 50 full scholarships, including tuition and room and board, to any public college or university, in an effort to encourage young people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Utah: OpEd: Without digital equity, our educational gap will only grow.
Wisconsin: Two mothers sue RUSD, alleging discrimination against poor students
RESOURCES
How Are Schools Going to Navigate CDC Mask Guidelines? Via VeryWell
Getting Back to Normal: OpEd in the Washington Post: "It’s time for children to finally get back to normal life."
This Hubble Photo Will Make You Feel So Small: The image, which NASA showcases in a new blog post, focuses on a galaxy cluster called ACO S 295. It’s a massive collection of individual galaxies.
"Our own galaxy holds anywhere from 100 billion to 400 billion stars, based on estimates."