Top Three
Omicron Severity with Children: New study which finds "The intrinsic severity of Omicron BA.2 in children who had no past COVID-19 or vaccination is not mild, and in fact, they had higher odds of PICU admissions, mechanical ventilation and oxygen use."
"Four deaths occurred during the Omicron wave, resulting in a higher in-hospital case fatality rate than other SARS-CoV-2 variants (0%), influenza (0.05%) and parainfluenza (0.04%)."
"PICU admission was higher for Omicron than other SARS-CoV-2 variants and influenza."
"The proportion with neurological complications was 14.91% for Omicron, which was higher than influenza and parainfluenza."
"Omicron BA.2 appeared more pathogenic than previous SARS-CoV-2 variants and influenza virus in children, resulting in higher in-hospital CFR, more PICU admissions, mechanical ventilation and oxygen use."
"Interestingly, Omicron BA.2 was more pathogenic in the upper airway relative to the lung as compared to previous SARS-CoV-2 variants and influenza virus in children, resulting in a higher percentage of croup."
An Estimated 1.1 Million Teachers Nationwide Had At Least One Student Who Never Showed Up for Class in the 2020-21 School Year: New GAO report.
Nearly half of public school teachers had students who were registered but never showed up
Students who never showed up came mostly from majority non-White and urban schools
Obstacles such as limited support or no adult assistance at home kept students from showing up
For older students, caring for a family member or working were major obstacles to showing up
Data From 100 Large Urban Districts Show Half Facing Shortages in Key Positions. Fixing That Will Mean Rethinking Teaching & Working in Schools: CRPE's Lisa Chu and Bree Dusseaul in The 74.
"Our analysis of district information and local media reports finds 93 of 100 large and urban districts have mentioned staffing shortages in the 2021-22 school year."
"About half of these districts — 48 — are experiencing shortages across multiple departments and positions. The most common shortfall reported is instructional roles, with nearly two-thirds of districts (61) struggling to fill teaching or instructional aide positions."
"Fourteen of the 100 districts we reviewed experienced actual or threatened student or staff walkouts, and two saw protests from both students and staff during early 2022."
Recommendations:
"Expand grow-your-own pipelines that attract a broader, more diverse pool of talent."
"Demand that state leaders and labor agreements reduce barriers to entering the profession."
"Create more diverse working environments that create more diverse learning options for students."
Federal
White House: OSTP post on ventilation and air purification: "Let’s Clear The Air On COVID"
CIDRAP with this interesting observation,"Though some experts around the world have been arguing that point for years, and subsequently advocating for respirator use and enhanced ventilation systems, this is the first time the White House has formally acknowledged that aerosol transmission has been the primary driver of the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, it has turned away from the language used by the CDC."
Bipartisan Innovation Act (formerly known as USICA, Endless Frontiers Act, COMPETES, etc): Hiccup reported via Punchbowl:
"Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is objecting to a unanimous consent agreement on the Bipartisan Innovation Act (aka USICA and five other names), which is slowing down efforts to begin a House-Senate conference on the legislation."
"Sanders objects to billions of dollars in tax credits for semiconductor chip manufacturers included in the package, which is designed to boost U.S. high-tech research and manufacturing in order to compete with China.”
COVID-19 Research
Second Booster Shot Likely: The Biden administration is considering authorizing “a second Covid-19 booster shot for older Americans within weeks, amid rising concern over a potential resurgence of cases… as a result of the spread of the Omicron subvariant, BA.2,” Politico reports.
"The move under consideration by senior health officials would recommend the additional vaccine dose for adults 65 and older, in an effort to better protect high-risk people and stave off a wave of hospitalizations should infections climb rapidly as a result of the spread of the Omicron subvariant, BA.2. Currently, second boosters are only recommended for those with compromised immune systems."
"Some of those health officials, including top Food and Drug Administration vaccine regulator Peter Marks, have advocated expanding those who would be eligible for an additional booster shot by the first week of April, arguing that the vaccination campaign needs to start well ahead of the next surge, the people with knowledge of the matter said."
"Some health officials also remain uncertain whether older Americans need a booster just yet. There is no definitive sign that the European case surge will lead to a rise in U.S. infections. And recent data reviewed by the administration shows that while the vaccines’ ability to guard against infection is eroding significantly within a few months, those vaccines still remain largely protective against the risk of serious illness and death. Top health officials are waiting on more definitive data from the CDC and Israel to determine the effectiveness of a fourth shot on different groups and populations, according to one of the people with knowledge of the matter."
Related, new data from the UK: "Vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation for people aged over 65, 15 weeks after a booster, was 85%, down from 91% two weeks after getting the third dose, the latest vaccine surveillance report from the agency estimated."
Study Finds That Children’s Antibody Responses to COVID-19 Are Stronger Than Adults’: Study and Press Release. "In the majority of households with SARS-CoV-2-positive children 0-4 years old and other affected household members, the children 0-4 years old had the highest levels of anti-RBD and neutralizing antibodies."
Why Don’t Kids Get Covid Badly?: ViaCNBC.
"A number of theories have been suggested, including a more effective innate immune response, less risk of immune over-reaction as occurs in severe Covid, fewer underlying co-morbidities and possibly fewer ACE-2 receptors in the upper respiratory epithelium — the receptor to which SARS-CoV-2 [Covid] binds,” Dr. Andrew Freedman, an academic in infectious diseases at the U.K.’s Cardiff University Medical School, told CNBC in emailed comments, adding that nonetheless the phenomenon was not “fully understood.”
"Research carried out by the Wellcome Sanger Institute and University College London, and published in the Nature journal in December, found a stronger “innate” immune response in the airways of children, characterized by the rapid deployment of interferons — which are released in the presence of viral or bacterial threats and help to restrict viral replication early on — UCL said.
"Meanwhile in adults, the researchers saw a less rapid immune response which meant the virus “was better able to invade other parts of the body where the infection was harder to control.”
“First of all, they’re younger so their immune systems are challenged a lot anyway ... when they’re one year or two years old until up to 10 or 12 years old, they they go through lots of infections,” Reintjes told CNBC on Monday. “They get lots of contact with other coronaviruses at this time so their immune system is in training anyway, and is very young and fit,” he said, adding that when children’s immune systems are then confronted with Covid-19, having had a lot of practice fighting off various infections and coronaviruses, they have much stronger immune response than adults who tend to get less of those kinds of infections."
Heart Disease Mortality Rates Rose During Pandemic: "The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with conditions that likely contributed to risk-associated increased HD and stroke mortality,” researchers stated.
Heart disease mortality rates increased 4.3% and stroke mortality rates increased 6.4% in this timeframe, according to researchers.
How Omicron May Help Us Withstand The Next COVID Wave: Via Axios.
Trying to Solve a Covid Mystery: Africa’s Low Death Rates: NYT, "The coronavirus was expected to devastate the continent, but higher-income and better-prepared countries appear to have fared far worse."
State
Illinois:
CPS won't make up 5 lost school days from January standoff with CTU.
Chicago school board ‘discouraged’ by district’s spending on academic, mental health support.
Maryland: "Nearly 50% of Baltimore City students chronically absent. Should truancy laws be enforced?"
Minnesota: St. Paul schools to keep mask mandate in place.
Virginia: "Judge rules that a dozen Virginia students can ask for mask mandates — but no more."
"A federal judge in Charlottesville ruled Wednesday that a handful of schools in Virginia could require face masks if necessary to protect a dozen immunocompromised children whose families sued over mask-optional policies."
"The ruling includes schools in the state’s largest districts, Loudoun and Fairfax. Judge Norman K. Moon emphasized repeatedly, though, that he is not undoing state law and an executive order that makes masks optional. His order is limited to the 12 families who sued in Charlottesville federal court, whose children attend 10 different school districts in Virginia and range in age from preschool to 11th grade. Those children, he ruled, can ask their schools to require masks as an accommodation for their disabilities."
International
Economic Recovery
End of an Office Era: Via Axios:
"Offices around the country are still pretty empty, according to data released this week by security firm Kastle which measures occupancy by looking at foot traffic into offices, pulling data from security swipe cards and keyfobs."
"The disruption could be comparable to the exodus of manufacturing from cities in the late 20th century, University of Toronto professor Richard Florida told the Wall Street Journal."
"Occupancy rates are low even in areas of the country like Texas that have had looser pandemic restrictions in recent months: It's 52% in Austin, 48% in Houston and 47% in Dallas. Rates are even lower in New York (37%) and San Francisco (30%)."
Russia-Ukraine War is Ending Globalization: Interesting piece at CNBC. I heard similar thoughts at an off-the-record policy forum a few weeks ago with leaders from the White House, Congress, and businesses. And more here in this FP article. Will have important implications that also touch on workforce and education issues.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put an end to the globalization we have experienced over the last three decades,” Fink said in his 2022 letter to shareholders. “It has left many communities and people feeling isolated and looking inward. I believe this has exacerbated the polarization and extremist behavior we are seeing across society today.”
“I believe this has exacerbated the polarization and extremist behavior we are seeing across society today,” Fink said in his 2022 letter to shareholders."
The Case for Economic Dynamism and Why it Matters for the American Worker: New report via EIG.
Resources
COVID-19 School Data Hub: Via Emily Oster
"I wanted to write a bit about the COVID-19 School Data Hub, which is the data culmination of much of what we did last year. In short, this hub (which you can see here) is a public data resource documenting schooling modes over the 2020-21 school year in most of the U.S."
"One purpose is simply to map out the experience of the past year. The main Data Hub page lets people scroll through the opening experience through the year. Below, I’ve extracted graphs for October, January, and April. You can see here both the increased opening over time and the considerable geographic variation. More districts offered in-person instruction by the spring, but we see huge variation across the country throughout the year."
"We can also use this data to look at where schools opened, and for whom. A very strong pattern is that schools and districts with more students of color were less likely to open for in-person learning. This is especially true for Black students. Districts with more students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch were also less likely to open. On the flip side, districts in more Republican-leaning areas (as proxied by Trump vote share in 2020) were more likely to open. This is true across and within states. COVID case rates are weakly positively correlated with opening."
A Call to Connection: New resource from Aspen's Weaver Initiative and Einhorn Collaborative.
"Vibrant human connection is central to our health as individuals, our efficacy as organizations, and our collective wellbeing as a society. Across disciplines, studies show that we are wired with an instinctive drive to mirror and coordinate, build relationships, and help and support one another."
"These findings are echoed and enriched by wisdom teachings and cultural practices going back thousands of years. Relationships are at the heart of what makes life worth living."
"Though we long for connection, too often our relationships take a backseat to other demands and priorities. Elsewhere, our differences are exploited and connections severed, fueling toxic polarization. In the midst of a mental health crisis, social conflict, and a global pandemic, how do we cultivate a culture of connection?"
"This primer is written for leaders who are ready to answer that call, or curious enough to explore it. While celebrating efforts to change systems, structures, and policies, our focus here is the everyday steps that can recenter our culture on connection. How we conduct our work, choose our priorities, set strategies, and measure success—each of these helps or hinders our connection with one another."
How States Can Streamline Broadband Grant Administration: The Broadband Infrastructure Playbook, developed by the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA), NTCA –The Rural Broadband Association and telecom consulting firm Cartesian, aims to serve as a comprehensive resource to help states ensure their grant programs are compliant with key IIJA objectives.
Developing Open-Source Algorithms For Struggling Students: Via the Learning Agency Lab:
"More than 2,000 teams of learning engineers entered The Feedback Prize Competition to develop open-source algorithms that will help struggling students improve their writing."
"Teams entered the competition from around the world, and will base their work on a dataset of 25,000 essays curated from federal and state education agencies, as well as education non-profits. Winning teams will be awarded $40,000, smaller prizes for other successful entries. These essays are the largest dataset of student writing ever released."
States Can Use Federal Relief Funds to Raise College Graduation Rates. Here’s How: Sameer Gadkaree and Michele Jolin via The 74.
AFT's Weingarten Weighs in on Shifting Role of Teacher Unions During COVID-19: Via K12 Dive.
Longer School Days and Years Remain Rare as Schools Fight Learning Loss With Optional Time: Reports Chalkbeat.
Why We Should Follow the Science—To School: Essay related to a new book Follow the Science to School: Evidence-based Practices for Elementary Education, a new book edited by Barbara Davidson, Kathleen Carroll, and Michael Petrilli.
The Celine Dion Challenge: Which produced these performances...