Top Three
CDC Advisory Committee Recommends Covid Boosters for Kids 5 to 11: Via Stat:
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices "did not debate not making the vaccine booster available to children in this age group. Instead, the discussion focused on whether the CDC should tell parents and doctors that these children “should” receive the vaccine, or to give what is known as a permissive recommendation, saying that children “may” receive the booster dose."
"Panelists came down resoundingly on the side of “should.” The vote was 11-1, with one abstention, that the CDC should make its strongest recommendation."
"Most of the panelists who voted yes also noted the large number of children in the age group who had not received the Covid vaccine, but they worried that the public might interpret weaker language as saying the vaccine was not important."
The CDC said reports of heart inflammation linked to the Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine "have been much lower in 5- to 11-year-old boys than in adolescents and young men, representing only a slightly elevated rate than normal."
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky adopted the recommendation:
“Today, I endorsed ACIP’s vote to expand eligibility for COVID-19 vaccine booster doses. Children 5 through 11 should receive a booster dose at least 5 months after their primary series. Vaccination with a primary series among this age group has lagged behind other age groups leaving them vulnerable to serious illness. With over 18 million doses administered in this age group, we know that these vaccines are safe, and we must continue to increase the number of children who are protected. I encourage parents to keep their children up to date with CDC’s COVID-19 vaccine recommendations."
COVID Learning Loss Comparable to That Inflicted by Hurricane Katrina: The 74 on a new study.
"Study co-author Megan Kuhfeld, a senior research analyst at the nonprofit research group NWEA, declared herself “surprised in some ways that the results were a lot bigger” than those following the seminal natural disaster of recent American history. But while the “concentration of disrupted schooling” immediately following Katrina was especially intense, Kuhfeld argued, most affected children were relocated and enrolled in new schools within a matter of months."
“If you think about how prolonged the disruptions were, it does make sense to me that we saw larger drops than we did during the hurricane,” she said."
"Average math scores dropped by a range of 3.3 points to 4.5 points (sixth graders and eighth graders, respectively)during the period under examination, while reading scores dropped between 1.5 and three points (eighth graders and third graders, respectively)."
"In just two years, the already sizable gap in reading performance between students enrolled at relatively high-poverty schools (those in which over 75 percent of students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch) and relatively low-poverty schools (those in which fewer than 25 percent are eligible) expanded by 15 percent. The gap in math performance grew by 20 percent."
“Those kids who were first-graders when the pandemic started are now in third grade,” Kuhfeld observed. “There’s probably going to be a cumulative effect where kids who missed out on those formative, learning-to-read experiences will probably see even larger negative effects on reading than we’ve observed so far.”
With So Many Kids Struggling in School, Experts Call for Revamping ‘Early Warning Systems': Via EdWeek
"While school districts have adopted data systems to track and analyze student indicators at unprecedented rates in the past several years, the creators of those systems warn that the indicators and interventions developed before the pandemic may not be enough to get students back on track now."
"Balfanz, research scientists from the Center for Social Organization of Schools and the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research, and six other research and education groups have launched a project to develop “next-generation” early-warning and intervention systems."
“Balfanz and his colleagues identified what they termed the “ABCs” of student disengagement:"
Absenteeism, particularly a student who chronically misses school, usually defined as 10 percent or more of the available school days.
Behavior problems, such as two or more detentions or in- or out-of-school suspensions; and
Course performance, such as grade failures and lack of credit completion.
Federal
White House: "The Biden administration is invoking the Defense Production Act to increase production of baby formula and launching a new program that would use commercial aircraft to pick up overseas formula that meets U.S. standards,” the WSJ reports. Press Release.
Internal CDC Review: Via Axios and Bloomberg:
"Individuals inside the CDC or from adjacent government agencies raised longstanding frustrations, according to Bloomberg, citing a rigid budget structure that prevents money from being reallocated to new priorities during emergencies."
"The CDC also has insufficient authority and tools to obtain data from local governments and health care providers and to analyze it, the individuals said."
"The review also takes up how the CDC can more quickly turn around its scientific research and disseminate findings to the public."
"Many of those consulted in the review also lamented the CDC’s data capabilities. Several inside the CDC said the agency needs more authority to procure data from local governments and health-care providers, and better tools to quickly analyze it. The agency is highly dependent on voluntary cooperation from state and local health departments, and has been stymied by outdated technology and a lack of standards across those local groups."
White House OPM: Nudges federal agencies to hire for skills, not degrees.
"The Biden administration on Thursday urged federal agencies to rely on job-seekers' skills — rather than their academic degrees — to fill vacancies, according to new guidance shared exclusively with Axios' Margaret Harding McGill."
Press Release and Guidance.
Covid-19 Research
Moderna: Said it is possible the company would be able to start shipping its Covid-19 vaccine for Under 5s as soon as early June, pending a decision by U.S. regulators.
Britain's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization: Their equivalent to the CDC's ACIP, released recommendations for who should get boosters this fall. "The JCVI’s current view is that in autumn 2022, a COVID-19 vaccine should be offered to:
Residents in a care home for older adults and staff
Frontline health and social care workers
All those 65 years of age and over
Adults aged 16 to 64 years who are in a clinical risk group
Kids With Heart Conditions Prone to Severe COVID-19: "Congenital and acquired heart conditions such as biventricular defects, cardiac arrest, and heart failure are associated with increased COVID-19 severity in US children, suggests a multicenter study."
Made to Save: Released their impact report.
State
California: "A major upgrade last month in the state’s primary student data collection system, CALPADS, has caused disruptions and data errors for many districts at one of their busiest times of the year. Statewide leaders representing districts told the state that some of the districts considered the system “unusable.”
"It’s unclear why the department chose mid-April, during the Smarter Balanced testing, a peak period for using CALPADS, for the conversion. A spokesperson for the department initially said the U.S. Department of Education had been pressuring the state to get the work done, but the state department later clarified that was not the case."
Hawaii: "Three Hawaii Island public charter schools have a new tool for detecting COVID-19 on campus — an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois named Cobra."
Illinois: Second cohort of Accelerate Illinois Broadband Infrastructure Program selected.
New Jersey: "The rollout of remote teaching in New Jersey during the COVID-19 pandemic was haphazard, under-resourced, inequitably delivered, contributed to student and teacher stress and may exacerbate digital and social inequality," according to a Rutgers study.
Virginia: “Governor Youngkin Releases Education Report Finding Sliding Education Performance and Lowered Standards in Virginia” including new data on missed learning:
45% of Black third-grade students passed their SOL reading assessment in 2021, compared with 61% in 2017.
43% of Hispanic third graders passed in reading in 2021, compared to 66% in 2017.
45% of economically disadvantaged third-grade students passed in 2021, compared to 62% in 2017.
72% of white third graders passed in 2021, compared to 81% in 2017.
"Virginia now has the lowest proficiency standards in reading and mathematics in the nation, resulting in the wide “honesty gaps” between the performance of students on state Standards of Learning tests and performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)."
International
Taiwan: "Which has abandoned the zero-Covid strategy to live with the virus, hit a record number of domestic infections, rising rapidly from some 15,000 cases at the end of last month to more than 85,000 on Wednesday,” the South China Morning Post reports.
Economic Recovery
Older Workers Return to the Workforce: Via the NYT:
"Whether by choice or financial necessity, millions of older Americans have made the same move in recent months. Nearly 64% of adults between the ages of 55 and 64 were working in April, essentially the same rate as in February 2020. That’s a more complete recovery than among most younger age groups."
“The rapid rebound has surprised many economists, who thought that fear of the virus — which is far deadlier for older people — would contribute to a wave of early retirements, especially because many people’s savings had been fattened by years of market gains.”
14 States Had Significant Census Miscounts: Reports NPR.
“For the 2020 census, all states were not counted equally well for population numbers used to allocate political representation and federal funding over the next decade, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released Thursday."
“A follow-up survey the bureau conducted to measure the national tally’s accuracy found significant net undercount rates in six states: Arkansas (5.04%), Florida (3.48%), Illinois (1.97%), Mississippi (4.11%), Tennessee (4.78%) and Texas (1.92%).”
“It also uncovered significant net overcount rates in eight states — Delaware (5.45%), Hawaii (6.79%), Massachusetts (2.24%), Minnesota (3.84%), New York (3.44%), Ohio (1.49%), Rhode Island (5.05%) and Utah (2.59%).”
More Subprime Borrowers Are Missing Loan Payments: WSJ: “Consumers with low credit scores are falling behind on payments for car loans, personal loans and credit cards, a sign that the healthiest consumer lending environment on record in the U.S. is coming to an end."
Resources
School Accountability Is Restarting After a Two-Year Pause. Here’s What That Means: Via EdWeek.
Billions in School Covid-Relief Funds Remain Unspent: Via WSJ
Husky Blows Bubbles In a Stream: Sort of captures my mood this week...