COVID-19 Policy Update #300
COVID-19 Policy Update
WEDNESDAY 7/21
Difficult to believe, but this is the 300th update. This whole endeavor was somewhat of an accident. It originally started as a Slack channel which then became an email that eventually was shared with a working group of philanthropies. Others asked to be added to the list over time.
My hope is that these updates are helpful in making sense of the unfolding complexities emerging out of the pandemic while also providing some visibility through the "COVID fog of uncertainty" that has made it so difficult to see what is on the horizon.
But it's worth pausing for a moment to check-in with you and see what's working and what could be improved. To help with that, I have a brief survey that is anonymous and should take no more than 3 minutes to complete. Grateful for any and all feedback.
With appreciation,
--John
TOP THREE
The Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF): Launched today with $200 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Walton Family Foundation. More at EdWeek
The program will support ambitious inclusive R&D programs designed to tackle intractable teaching and learning challenges that disproportionately affect Black and Latino students and students of all races experiencing poverty.
The initial effort will focus on two areas of work:
EF+Math is a five-year inclusive R&D program with a goal of doubling the number of Black and Latinx students who are proficient in math in grades three through eight. Founded by Dr. Melina Uncapher in 2019, the program moved under the AERDF umbrella earlier this year.
Assessment for Good (AFG) is an Inclusive R&D program focused on dramatically improving conditions for the social and emotional health and positive academic outcomes of learners aged eight through thirteen, with a special focus on Black and Latinx students.
The launched included two immediate opportunities:
A Request for Information (RFI) that seeks information from educators, researchers, caregivers, and product developers on how assessment can be conducted differently. Of particular interest are ideas for how to meaningfully include parents and students as partners in assessment, new assessment formats for SEL that can be integrated into current learning systems, and technology-enhanced assessment that supports embedding assessment into natural classroom routines.
A Request for Proposals (RFP) for available funding for projects aimed at creating innovative ways to assess how learning environments support specific aspects of students’ emotional and identity development.
Researchers: Virus Surge a ‘Raging Forest Fire’ in Arkansas: Via the AP
A model by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health projected a daily average of 1,039 new cases over the next week.
"Dr. Jose Romero, the state’s health secretary, said he was concerned about the possibility of a “surge on top of this surge” when school begins this fall. I expect to see this year significant outbreaks within the school system,” Romero said during a virtual discussion on vaccine hesitancy held by U.S. News & World Report. “What’s already telling me that’s going to happen are the number of day care closures that have occurred because of outbreaks occurring, and camp exposures and closures occurring.”
Masks and Schools:
The CDC told Fox News on Tuesday that the agency has "no plans to update" mask use recommendations.
No, We Shouldn’t Bring Back Universal Mask Mandates: Argues Joseph Allen.
"Fortunately, breakthroughs are rare, and the terminology is misleading. Take the recent study of people in prisons that found 27 positive cases out of 2,380 vaccinated individuals. These “breakthroughs” amounted to 1.1 percent of participants and, more importantly, none were symptomatic. They were only discovered because of routine screening."
"Three major studies over the past year all found the risk of death to be in the range of 1 in 100,000 to 1 in 1 million. Hospitalization rates for school-aged kids younger than 12 (the group that can’t get vaccinated yet) hovered around 3 or 4 per million throughout the pandemic, reaching just under 1 per 100,000 at the worst point in January. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a serious condition that can affect children with covid-19, remains rare, and, thankfully, a recent study found inflammation and cardiac symptoms resolved rapidly."
"There are also vast differences in risk by region due to uneven vaccination rates. This is why blanket statements about masks don’t make sense. Sure, in some areas experiencing an outbreak, such as Arkansas, reinstituting mask mandates might make sense. But what about Vermont, where cases, hospitalizations and deaths are very low? Is there no level low enough that the AAP would say kids can take off their masks?"
FEDERAL
NTIA: Is seeking reviewers for NTIA Broadband Connectivity Programs.
It's Infrastructure (Next) Week!:
A procedural motion on the bipartisan infrastructure package failed 49-51, with Majority Leader Schumer switching his vote to ‘no’ at the end to preserve his option to call the same vote on another day. The motion needed 60 to succeed.
Sen. Portman confirmed to Politico that he’s sent letter to Senate Majority Leader Schumer with 11 Republican signers signaling they will be ready to advance the bipartisan infrastructure bill on Monday
Debt Ceiling: CBO estimated the federal government will run out of cash to pay its bills by October unless the debt ceiling is raised.
Congress voted in 2019 to suspend the debt ceiling until July 31, 2021.
"If lawmakers can’t reach another agreement before the end of the month, the borrowing limit would automatically be reinstated at that level, and the Treasury wouldn’t be able to raise additional cash from the sale of government securities.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
1.5 Million: The number of children around the world are estimated to have lost at least one parent, custodial grandparent, or grandparent who lived with them due to death related to COVID-19 during the first 14 months of the pandemic according to a new study published in the Lancet today.
Children Are Very Unlikely to Die of Covid-19: A FullFact fact check of a recent BBC article.
"The scientific paper itself was clear about what it meant. It said in its conclusion: “25 [children and young people] died of SARS-CoV-2 during the first pandemic year in England, equivalent to an infection fatality rate of 5 per 100,000 and a mortality rate of 2 per million.”
"So this research is saying that the risk to children in England as a whole of catching and then dying of Covid, often called the “mortality rate”, was two in a million."
"The BBC later removed the phrase “putting the overall risk of death at around two in a million children, scientists estimate” from the original article, and added various phrases to make the new version clearer."
"If these estimates are correct, they would further reduce the already very low risk of dying of Covid for any children who caught it in this period."
COVID-19 Transmission Risk During School Bus Transportation: New study
"The school monitored 1,154 students with asymptomatic PCR testing every 2 weeks initially and later every week from August 28, 2020-March 19, 2021, during highest community transmission."
"Fifteen buses served 462 students while operating at near capacity of 2 students in every seat, using a physical distancing minimum of 2.5 feet, universal masking, and simple ventilation techniques."
"There were 39 infectious COVID-19 cases who were present on buses during the study period, which resulted in the quarantine of 52 students. Universal testing and contact tracing revealed no transmission linked to bus transportation."
Two Ways to Think About the New Mask Debate: Helpful piece via the Atlantic
"Depending on where you live and your risk tolerance, vaccinated people are justified in either masking or unmasking indoors."
"We are a nation of under-doers and over-doers. Every time the government has issued COVID-19 guidance throughout the pandemic, one slice of America has ignored it, while another slice has followed it to the letter, and then some."
"I asked four experts, and received … four different answers that depend on your personal risk tolerance, living situation, and geographic location."
Vaccines Dramatically Reduce Deaths: Powerful graph from the New Statesman showing that even when there are infections, the number of deaths is dramatically reduced.
New COVID-19 Cases Have Tripled in the Last Month:
"Among the 463 counties with infection levels of at least 100 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past week, more than 80% have vaccination rates below 40%," according to a CNBC analysis
"Nearly 1,600 counties across 40 states have vaccinated less than 40% of their populations"
"In other words, two-thirds of counties in the U.S. have vaccinated less than 40% of their residents."
STATE
Alabama: Alabama Virtual Academy has highest re-enrollment numbers since founded
Arizona: OpEd from Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman: How to safely keep Arizona schools open, even if they can't mandate masks.
Georgia: Cobb County and Marietta City schools will not require students and staff to wear masks on buses and indoors when the new school year begins next month.
North Carolina: Gov. Cooper said K-8 students and teachers should wear masks in schools.
"It's much more disruptive to have an outbreak of 100 kids with COVID-19 in a school than it is to wear a mask," Dr. David Priest with Novant Health said. "It just is. I think kids can go in person but I think masks make a lot of sense"
Texas: A class action lawsuit was filed against the Texas Tech University System requesting tuition reimbursement for all students who had in-person, hands-on education for semesters affected by COVID-19 and had their courses moved to online learning.
Virginia: As of mid-July, Amherst County Public Schools had 77 students enrolled in the Virtual Virginia online program, the platform in the 2021-22 school year for those who choose not to return to in-person instruction
RESOURCES
Kids Need Schools Open. So Does the Economy: David Winston in Roll Call
How States and Localities Can Use Federal Rescue Plan Dollars to Diversify Their Teacher Workforce: Via Bellwether Education:
Actively recruiting high school students to the teaching profession.
Creating or expanding pathway programs to the teaching profession, including “grow your own” programs.
Partnering with institutions of higher education, especially minority-serving institutions and historically Black colleges and universities.
Funding meaningful professional development and mentoring and establishing networks and communities of practice.
Committing resources to actively educate prospective teachers with comprehensive information about underutilized federal and state subsidies.
Training school leaders to provide better support and to create an inclusive and autonomous environment for teachers
How to Close the Digital Divide in the U.S.: Via HBR
Key to Closing the Digital Divide: Make the Emergency Broadband Benefit Permanent: Argues US Telecom
In the Largest U.S. Cities, the Digital Divide is a Poverty Problem: Via Bloomberg Cities
A Post-Pandemic Opportunity to Think DifferentlyAbout Instructional Time: Via Jonathan Alfuth at EdNext
Time to Revolutionize Our Education System: Via Fred Jones of the Aurora Institute and Nithya Joseph of America Forward.
"One-size-fits-all education systems, organized largely around measures like antiquated seat-time policies and or an outsized focus on standardized assessments, remain ill-equipped to prepare all learners to succeed in school or in life — even more so in the aftermath of COVID-19."
"In many communities, there may be a temptation to return to a pre-COVID normal — to rigid systems and routines that are familiar and “safe” — but to do so would be to miss a once-in-a-generation opportunity to leverage billions in new federal education investments to implement policies and advance competency-based practices that will lead to better outcomes for all students in Massachusetts."
Social and Emotional Supports for Educators During and After the Pandemic: Via CAP
Be Curious, Not Judgmental: Via the philosopher Ted Lasso quoting Walt Whitman (although, it may not have been Whitman who said this)
"You know, Rupert, guys have underestimated me my entire life. And for years, I never understood why. It used to really bother me."
"But then one day, I was driving my little boy to school and I saw this quote by Walt Whitman, and it was painted on the wall there. It said, "Be curious, not judgmental." I like that."
"So I get back in my car and I'm driving to work, and all of a sudden it hits me. All them fellas that used to belittle me, not a single one of them were curious."
"You know, they thought they had everything all figured out. So they judged everything, and they judged everyone."
"And I realized that their underestimating me... who I was had nothing to do with it. 'Cause if they were curious, they would've asked questions."