Top Three
Novavax Vaccine Effective, but FDA Flags Myocarditis Risk: Via CIDRAP.
"In a detailed review ahead of next week's advisory committee meeting, FDA staff today said the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine will likely provide meaningful protection against the Omicron variant, but they raised concerns about the potential for rare cardiac conditions after vaccination."
"The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) is slated to consider emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Novavax vaccine on Jun 7."
"In an 80-page review of the vaccine's efficacy and safety, the FDA combed through trials that included 30,000 patients and were conducted before the Delta and Omicron surges. Last June, a phase 3 trial found that the vaccine had 90% overall efficacy and was well tolerated, with few serious and adverse events. The FDA said based on efficacy estimates, the vaccine is likely to afford meaningful protection against Omicron, especially against severe disease."
"In Novavax's nearly 30,000 patient trial, conducted between December 2020 and September 2021, there were four cases of myocarditis detected within 20 days of taking the protein-based shot."
"It said the cases raised concerns about a link to the vaccine, similar to associations found earlier with mRNA vaccines. Officials suggested that the company flag the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis in its written materials."
"In a statement, Novavax said natural background levels of myocarditis are expected, with young males known to be at higher risk. It said the difference in the rates between the vaccine and placebo groups was very small (0.007 % and 0.005%, respectively) and that in post-crossover portions of the study, cases were within expected parameters."
Job Growth Continues at Rapid Pace: The U.S. economy added 390,000 jobs in May, better than expected 328,000.
“At the same time, the unemployment rate held at 3.6%, just above the lowest level since December 1969.”
WSJ: "May’s job gains represented the slowest pace of growth since April of last year, a 12-month period in which demand vastly exceeded the available supply of workers. Employers filled more than half a million jobs a month on average during that stretch while complaining about a labor shortage."
A Wake-Up Call for Public Education: Via Michael Bloomberg:
"Nearly 1.3 million students have left public schools since the pandemic began. Most states have seen enrollment declines for two straight years. In New York City, K-12 enrollment has dropped by an astounding 9%."
"Given that state education funding formulas rely on student population numbers, a large reduction in students will lead to a corresponding reduction in school budgets.""The message to educators and elected officials could hardly be clearer: Too many public schools are failing, parents are voting with their feet, and urgent and bold action is needed."
"Since 2020, Congress has sent an additional $190 billion to schools, in part to help them reopen safely and stave off layoffs. But in many districts, union leaders resisted a return to in-classroom instruction long after it was clear that classrooms were safe. And by and large, remote instruction was a disaster."
"Now, after students have fled public schools in record numbers, states are paying more to educate fewer children. That might have been acceptable if students were showing great improvement. Instead, we are paying more for failure."
"Meanwhile, enrollment at public charter schools has been moving in the opposite direction, thanks to their success, even as their federal funding has not risen in the last four years. From 2020 to 2021, nearly 240,000 new students enrolled in charter schools, a 7% increase year over year."
"Charter schools educate 7% of all public-school students, yet they receive less than 1% of total federal spending on K-12 education."
"Otherwise, the shameful failures of the public school system will continue, hurting another generation of the most vulnerable children. For the U.S. to remain the world’s strongest economy, and to make any substantial progress on matters of racial justice, that is not an outcome Americans can afford to accept. The new enrollment data sends a stark signal. Schools will have to adjust to dropping enrollments either by getting smaller or by getting better. You can’t lose the students and keep the teachers."
Covid-19 Research
COVID Booster in NBA Cut Infection Risk 57% Amid Omicron: Study.
Paxlovid: Study finds it reduces COVID risk in seniors regardless of vaccine status. Via Reuters.
"Pfizer's clinical trial tested Paxlovid in unvaccinated people who had risk factors for serious disease and found that the two-drug treatment cut the risk of hospitalization and death by 90%. That was during the Delta wave of the virus."
"Senior citizens who had no prior immunity - meaning they were neither vaccinated nor recovered from a previous COVID case - saw an 86% drop in hospitalizations with Paxlovid. Those who had prior immunity also benefited, but at a lower rate of 60%."
Welcome to the Great Reinfection: Via Wired.
"In the early months of the pandemic, reinfections were a remarkable rarity, even making global news when discovered."
"Two years and some change in, that novelty has largely evaporated. A perfect storm of waning immunity, loosened restrictions, and an extremely transmissible variant making the rounds has meant reinfections are the new normal for many."
"Laith J. Abu-Raddad, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, has investigated how much a previous infection protects against a future one—and how much this has shifted because of Omicron. In a study published in March, he found that pre-Omicron, the effectiveness of a Covid infection against a reinfection hovered at about 90 percent—in both the vaccinated and unvaccinated. Post-Omicron that number dropped to about 50 percent. Reinfections, he says, “are becoming an accepted reality.”
State
Arkansas: The Arkansas Department of Education’s Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), Arkansas State University and its sponsored initiative, the Arkansas Out of School Network, have awarded $1.8 million to 30 summer and extended-year learning programs across the state through the Summer Learning Supplemental Grant.
California: Mask mandates are being reinstated at some school districts amid a rising tide of COVID-19.
Florida: Via The 74, "Florida’s Alarming Reading Scores: Third-Grade Test Shows Only 1 in 4 Proficient."
Michigan: Detroit district embraces intensive tutoring to try to close literacy gap.
New York:
Bullets hit COVID vaccine bus in NYC, prompting lockdowns at 2 schools .
New York Updates Guidance for COVID-19 Isolation and Quarantine:
"K-12 Students, Teachers, and Staff. Individuals in this category who are exposed to COVID-19 and are not otherwise “up to date” on their vaccines may “attend or work at school, school-based extracurricular activities, and eligible childcare programs for school-age children . . . during the quarantine period if they undergo recommended testing.” However, the guidance notes that “these individuals must continue to quarantine as otherwise required outside of school.”
International
IMF: Creative remote education can make up for learning lost during school disruptions.
Resources
Are States Ready to Close the Digital Divide?: Via McKinsey, “States face a formidable task, so we’ve designed nine elements they could consider when developing their broadband programs. With digital equity serving as a North Star (see sidebar “Embedding equity at every turn”), the goal is to help states make the most of this historic funding and close the digital divide once and for all.”
Stand up a well-staffed broadband program office
Baseline the current state of broadband service and federal programming
Outline strategic goals and an integrated plan for using federal funds
Develop the location level map and key cost models
Create detailed action plans for BIL programs
Design and implement competitive grant programs
Create a project delivery function to ensure goals are met efficiently
Engage communities and other stakeholders
Establish a robust program performance management system
Suicide Hotline Concerns: Fewer than half of the public health officials responsible for deploying the new 988 national suicide prevention hotline are confident their communities have the necessary staff, financing or equipment.
VELA Education Fund Awards $1.4 Million: List of grantees.
The Comeback We Didn’t Expect: Inside the stop-and-start school year of 2021-22 via Chalkbeat.
Combating Learning Loss After the Pandemic: James Pethokoukis Q&A with Rick Hess.
2023 Presidential Leadership Scholars: Applications are now open.
Behind Khan Academy And Arizona State University’s Khan World School Launch: Michael Horn over at Forbes.
“The stereotype of online learning is that, ‘Oh, you're just doing your own thing, you feel detached from other people,’” Khan said. “Honestly, that's the stereotype of some in-person learning as well. You're just sitting in a classroom and your eyes are glazed over.”
"The Khan World School is aiming to tackle that stereotype with a daily, synchronous seminar where students debate topics that often aren’t discussed in schools—things like “Will the Fed be able to control inflation? Will CRISPR change the human genome? And [should] social media be blamed for the polarization in the world?,” Khan said."
"I argue in my forthcoming book, “From Reopen to Reinvent,” that this should be one of the six central purposes of K–12 schools: to help students understand that people can see things differently—and that those differences merit respect rather than persecution."
"The way in which the school will assess mastery is what’s perhaps most novel. Khan Academy operates a tutoring site called Schoolhouse.world, which is also a platform to validate mastery. In essence, students record their face and screen as they take a Khan Academy assessment and explain their reasoning out loud. That video artifact is then peer reviewed by others on the platform who have already proved their mastery of the concept to assess whether a student has mastered at least 90% of the concept."
The Greatest Life Hacks in the World (for Now): Good list compiled by David Brooks including:
"Anything you say before the word “but” does not count."
"When you get invited to something in the future, ask yourself, Would I do this tomorrow?"
"The thing that made you weird as a kid could make you great as an adult."
"The biggest lie we tell ourselves is, “I don’t need to write this down because I will remember it.”
"A friend shares the advice: “Always make the call. If you’re disturbed or confused by something somebody did, always pick up the phone.”
"Don’t try to figure out what your life is about. It’s too big a question. Just figure out what the next three years are about."
Moorhen: The winning word of the Scripps National Spelling Bee by Harini Logan, 14 — an eighth-grader from San Antonio.
Dance Like Nobody's Watching: Or just get excited that it's the weekend.