TOP THREE
Child Tax Credit Payments Slashed Hunger Rates: Reports Politico:
“Before the first tranche of tax credit payments hit bank accounts in mid-July, about 11 percent of households with children reported that they sometimes or often did not have enough to eat in the past week.”
“After the money went out, the rate dropped to just over 8 percent — a decrease of nearly 24 percent — and the lowest rate recorded since the beginning of the pandemic.”
Tennessee: TNDOE released 2020-21 Spring TCAP District-Level Results. Overview Deck and downloadable spreadsheet of district proficiency rates across student groups.
Texas: Via the Texas Tribune: "Frantic parents search for options to keep kids safe in school"
"In Austin ISD, more than 7,000 families enrolled for the virtual option but only about 4,034 were accepted. Austin ISD spokesperson Eddie Villa said it will cost the district $10,100 per student, putting the bill at about $40.7 million. About 2,388 of those children are out of district."
"The Texas Home School Coalition.. has reported that its call and email volume doubled to 1,016 during the last week of July, up from 536 the week before."
Also, after Austin ISD announced that masks would be required in schools this year, 757 students opted out of virtual classes to attend school in person.
FEDERAL
SCOTUS: The Supreme Court allowed Indiana University to require students to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Eviction Moratorium: Federal judge keeps eviction moratorium alive, but signals it's illegal.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Boosters: The CDC signed ACIP recommendation endorsing use of an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine for people with moderately to severely compromised immune systems after an initial two-dose series.
Johnson & Johnson: "A study of nearly 480,000 health care workers out of South Africa, the single-dose vaccine from Johnson and Johnson is up to 71% effective at protecting against severe illness and hospitalization from the Delta variant of COVID-19, and 96% effective at preventing death."
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Early Child Cognitive Development: The Guardian reports on a new study
"Children born during the coronavirus pandemic have significantly reduced verbal, motor and overall cognitive performance compared with children born before"
"In the decade preceding the pandemic, the mean IQ score on standardized tests for children aged between three months and three years of age hovered around 100, but for children born during the pandemic that number tumbled to 78"
"The biggest reason behind the falling scores is likely the lack of stimulation and interaction at home, said Deoni. “Parents are stressed and frazzled … that interaction the child would normally get has decreased substantially.”
State Strategies To Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake In Rural Communities: New report from NGA.
Hospitalizations at Six Month High: Reports Reuters.
"Only eight intensive care unit beds were available on Monday in the state of Arkansas, its governor said."
"Hospitalizations rose 40% and deaths, a lagging indicator, registered an 18% rise nationwide in the past week according to a Reuters tally of public health data."
NYT has an interactive using HHS data showing how full ICUs are across the country.
STATE
Florida: Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco said, “Within a 24-hour span, we had an assistant teacher pass away, a teacher at her school pass away, an elementary teacher pass away and another teacher at a high school.”
Important to note: It appears they were unvaccinated and because we don't have great contact tracing, it isn't clear that they were infected in school.
Maryland: Baltimore released its recovery plan: Reconnect, Restore, Reimagine
Summary of feedback survey completed by Teachers, Students, Parents, and Community Members. Here's the student feedback.
Mississippi: After one week, Pearl River Central High School has quarantined 40% of its entire student body.
Pennsylvania: From University of Pittsburgh, a new report Learning from Crisis that explores policies and practices that support flexibility in providing equitable learning opportunities for all students.
Tennessee: It's worth watching this Board of Education for Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools meeting to get a sense of what schools are facing right now in terms of the debate around masks, learning loss, CRT, and more. Some clips (3 mins each):
Washington: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal to request COVID-19 vaccine mandate for public school employees
RESOURCES
Are the Kids All Right? Ask the Camp Directors: Via NYT
"Camps are the canary in the coal mine,” said Dr. Laura Blaisdell, a pediatrician and an unofficial medical adviser to the American Camp Association, a nonprofit serving more than 15,000 camps"
"We have been seeing and working with a lot more behavior issues and general stress and anxiety with our camper population,” she wrote. “We are hearing older campers expressing that it is difficult not to just be able to go in their rooms and get away from everything.”
Don’t Be a Schmuck. Put on a Mask: Writes Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Atlantic.
"Many people told me that the Constitution gives them rights, but not responsibilities. They feel no duty to protect their fellow citizens."
"It’s up to all of us to recognize that the great privilege we have of being Americans comes with the great responsibility to keep this country No. 1."
"Every generation has heroes who have put the country ahead of themselves. From the men who left their families at home to fight for independence to the teenagers who shipped over to Europe and the Pacific to fight fascism, our history is defined by sacrifice. ... From women’s suffrage to the civil-rights movement, our nonstop efforts at creating a more perfect union are underwritten by the men and women who were willing to give up everything for the United States."
Quarantines As Schools Reopen: The Washington Post reports, "As schools reopen, more than 10,000 students and teachers across 14 states are quarantined for coronavirus exposure."
Alexander Russo: "Can someone tell the Washington Post that this kind of headline (featuring raw case numbers that may not reflect in-school transmission) is misleading and unhelpful?"
Districts Look to Expand Personalized Competency-based Education: Via the Washington Post.
Pandemic Spurs Boom in Virtual Offerings: Via The AP
"A majority of the 38 state education departments that responded to an Associated Press survey this summer indicated additional permanent virtual schools and programs will be in place in the coming school year."
"Some of these states might be denying it now, but soon they will have to get in line because they will see other states doing it and they will see the advantages of it.” said Dan Domenech, executive director AASA.
The Great American Dog Shortage: Via Axios
The American Pet Products Association released its biennial pet owners' survey in June, showing that "pet ownership has increased from an estimated 67% of U.S. households that own a pet to an estimated 70%" over the prior survey.
Millennials were the largest cohort of pet owners, at 32%, followed by Boomers at 27% and Gen X at 24%.
"There just are not enough dogs entering shelters" to meet demand, says Patti Strand, president and founder of the National Animal Interest Alliance"
If You Build It, They Will Come: MLB's Field of Dreams game begins and ends in Hollywood fashion, with a cinematic scored entrance, a beautiful sunset, a walk-off homer, and fireworks.
"Is this heaven?” the ghost of John Kinsella asked in the movie that inspired the game to be played Thursday between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees next to the actual site used in the 1989 film."
Kevin Costner, who portrayed Ray Kinsella in the film, walked through the cornfield and onto the outfield to throw the first pitch." He reflected, "Somewhere along the line, if you have some unfinished business, that movie starts to take over."
Watch the moment the players emerge... I had friends texting me that they had goosebumps.