Top Three
Under 5s: The White House released a distribution and outreach plan pending approval of a vaccine for under 5s. They will purchase 10 million doses. Roughly 85% of children are living within five miles of possible vaccination sites.
Fact Sheet: Biden Administration Announces Operational Plan for COVID-19 Vaccinations for Children Under 5.
"Administration will make vaccinations for our nation’s youngest children widely available at thousands of trusted, accessible sites across the country—with 85% of children under the age of five living within five miles of a potential vaccination site. Vaccinations will be available at pediatricians’ and other doctors’ offices, community health centers, rural health clinics, children’s hospitals, public health clinics, local pharmacies, and other community-based organizations."
"The Administration will engage families through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, which serves over 6 million people, including almost half of all infants born in the United States."
"The Administration will work with Head Start grantees to get critical vaccination information to the approximately 1 million families they serve."
"The Administration will launch an effort to reach more than 800,000 children age five and under supported by HUD programs, including children in households that receive housing-choice vouchers and children living in public housing and Section 8 housing."
"American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), two leading medical, will provide a “Speaker’s Bureau” of pediatricians and family doctors who will lend their trusted voices to raise awareness, answer common questions among parents, and encourage vaccine confidence through community events, vaccine and health fairs, and other key opportunities to reach parents."
NYT: “Realistically, it means we could see shots in arms of kids under 5 as early as the week of June 20,” Dr. Jha said of the federal review timeline, adding that the federal Juneteenth holiday on that Monday would mean many offices would begin administering the shots on Tuesday, June 21."
"Pre-orders of vaccines for children under age 5 have been slow, but Biden administration senior officials say they are not alarmed and expect the pace to pick up after federal approvals later this month."
"Thus far, 58% of the available 2.5 million Pfizer vaccines have been ordered and just 34% of the Moderna vaccines, officials said."
Briefing Video / Briefing transcript / Background call transcript.
Masks:
Boston Public Schools will end its mask mandate starting Monday.
"Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan says officials believe the city is past the peak of the current wave, which led to the school and day care announcement."
"Gov. Kathy Hochul said a decision on mask mandates for public transportation could be made soon."
NCES: Will administer NAEP online beginning in 2024, after piloting the online exam in 25 volunteer schools with over 1,000 students this past April.
"Prior to full implementation, NCES will test a random selection of almost 450 schools in spring 2023 using both online and offline administration, according to NCES commissioner Peggy Carr."
"In 2026, the assessments will become “device agnostic,” meaning students will eventually be able to test on any device."
"By 2028, adaptive testing — where questions are tailored to student ability — will be in place."
Federal
ED: Secretary Cardona has appointed Jordan Matsudaira to serve as the Department of Education’s first-ever Chief Economist.
School Meals: Politico: "As universal school meals program nears end, Biden eyes other ways to get food to school kids."
"Congress has failed to extend the pandemic-era universal school meal program, which expires on June 30."
"Administration officials are exploring using about $1 billion from an Agriculture Department fund to help schools purchase U.S. commodities for their meal programs. USDA did something similar last December, as districts struggled to find consistent sources of food amid ongoing supply chain disruptions from the pandemic."
Covid-19 Research
Neurodevelopmental Outcomes at 1 Year in Infants of Mothers Who Tested Positive for SARS-CoV-2 During Pregnancy: New study.
"In this cohort study of 7,772 infants delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic, those born to the 222 mothers with a positive SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction test during pregnancy were more likely to receive a neurodevelopmental diagnosis in the first 12 months after delivery, even after accounting for preterm delivery."
"These preliminary findings suggest that COVID-19 exposure may be associated with neurodevelopmental changes and highlight the need for prospective investigation of outcomes in children exposed to COVID-19 in utero."
Important Caveat: "This study provides some evidence that women who tested positive for COVID-19 had babies with neurodevelopmental problems. There is no evidence that the association is causative: that COVID-19 directly led to these problems."
COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage, by Race and Ethnicity: CDC, "By the end of November 2021, disparities in vaccination coverage for some racial and ethnic groups narrowed, and coverage was similar for non-Hispanic Black (78.2%), Hispanic (81.3%), Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (75.7%), and non-Hispanic White (78.7%) adults."
State
Florida: Osceola County Schools bringing in dozens of teachers from South America to fill vacancies.
North Carolina:
Thousands of tutors needed for Wake students to address learning loss.
New legislation in the General Assembly would expand virtual learning options for public school students and could end snow days in districts that opt for remote learning instead of makeup days in June.
Pennsylvania: Philly outlines priorities for federal funds:
"Of the $1.1 billion, Philadelphia schools will use $350 million to support educational recovery and accelerate learning... will pay for summer learning programs to help students get back on track, and it will also support after-school programs, before-school programs, tutoring, and academic clubs. Some funding will also go towards retaining staff, like teachers as well as administrators, who will in turn help students recover academically."
"$325 million is dedicated for improving facilities conditions across the district to address well-documented problems with ventilation and asbestos."
"$150 million is to support social and emotional needs of district students...“Improving the [counselor-to-student] ratio is a big one … you have more counselors in the system, more climate managers in the system who are dealing with day to day issues,” Monson said."
Utah: Virtual high schools are growing in Utah.
International
China: "Shanghai and Beijing went back on fresh COVID-19 alert on Thursday after parts of China's largest economic hub imposed new lockdown restrictions and the city announced a round of mass testing for millions of residents."
Resources
Prioritizing Racial Equity in Student Mental Health Spending: Via CAP.
Parent Polling: EdChoice/Morning Consult: Report / K-12 Parents Crosstabs / Adults 18+ Crosstabs.
Three out of four school parents believe that school should provide multiple learning options for students this school year.
Parents are generally satisfied with their experiences across different school sectors. District school parents are much less likely to be “very satisfied” compared to other parents.
In May, the monthly amount school parents were willing to spend for tutoring (per child) held steady at $340 per child.
Tutoring: Saga Education announced four new partnerships with Chicago Public Schools, New Mexico Public Education Department, Rhode Island Department of Education, and the Maryland State Department of Education.
"Saga's team works with states and districts on program design, tutor recruitment and training, curriculum design, and the implementation of ongoing assessments to measure student progress."
A Puppy: Is confused by his hiccups.