Top Three
NYC Test Scores Drop in Math, Increase in Reading: Chalkbeat reports.
"Nearly half of New York City’s third through eighth graders passed their state reading tests last school year, while about 38% passed math."
"Overall reading scores increased slightly, up 1.6 percentage points from 2019, while math scores dropped significantly, down 7.6 percentage points."
"Looking at grade-by-grade data, however, provides a different picture for reading scores: For the youngest students, third and fourth graders, scores fell by 4 percentage points and 6 percentage points respectively."
"Disparities remained between white and Asian American students compared with their Black and Latino peers. About 70.5% of Asian American and 67% of white students passed reading exams, compared with 35.8% of students who are Black and 36.8% who are Latino. For math, 68.3% of Asian American students and 58.5% of white students passed compared with 20.6% of Black children and 23.3% of Latino students."
New Study Shows Covid Vaccines Can Temporarily Alter Menstrual Cycle: NYT on a new study.
"On average, vaccinated people experienced about a one-day delay in their periods compared with those who did not get vaccinated. But like other side effects of vaccines, this change was temporary. One cycle after vaccination, people’s periods tended to return to normal."
"It’s not yet clear exactly how the Covid vaccine prompts these changes. There is most likely some cross-talk between the immune system and other parts of the body that help protect against outside pathogens, including the reproductive system. When vaccines activate your immune system, it is possible that they also affect the endometrium, which lines the uterus and is shed during menstruation."
"The new paper suggests that a variety of Covid vaccines may have this effect. Because it included participants from around the world, researchers were able to study the effects of not only the messenger RNA vaccines approved in the United States (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna), but also vaccines made from more traditional methods, like those using engineered viruses (AstraZeneca, Covishield, Johnson & Johnson and Sputnik V) and inactivated viruses (Covaxin, Sinopharm and Sinovac). The study did not include data from people who were on birth control or people who already had irregular cycles before getting vaccinated."
CIDRAP: "A news release from the National Institutes of Health, the study's funder, notes that a change in menstrual cycle length of less than 8 days is considered normal but that women may conflate cycle changes after vaccination with lower infertility, possibly fueling vaccine hesitancy."
Hurricane Ian: Hurricane Ian made landfall as a high-end Category 4 storm - just shy of a Category 5. By wind speed, it's the fifth most powerful storm to ever hit the U.S.
The storm surge looks devastating: Naples; a time-lapse in Sanibel; Fort Myers is under water; with boats floating down streets.
The new track has it moving over Florida and into GA, SC, and NC. Schools are shifting to remote learning ahead of the storm.
"The hurricane center also said that the storm’s speed—both its wind and the pace it is moving—means it is likely to remain more intact as it crosses the state. This increases the threat of hurricane-force winds on Florida’s eastern coast, the center said."
"The hurricane center said the storm surge could reach 12 to 18 feet above ground along a roughly 50-mile stretch of coast stretching from Englewood to Bonita Beach, including Charlotte Harbor. These projected numbers grew as the storm intensified. The height will depend on whether peak surge happens during high tide. “I haven’t seen numbers like this many times in my career,” said Jamie Rhome, the hurricane center’s acting director, during a storm update Wednesday. “Just a very devastating event starting to unfold unfortunately for the residents of southwest Florida."
Side Note: Thanks to everyone who checked in about my mom. She’s safe but had to move to a higher floor in her building due to flooding.
Federal
CDC: No longer recommends universal masking in health facilities.
Commerce: Zoë Baird will step down as CEO and President of the Markle Foundation to join Commerce as Senior Counselor to Secretary Gina Raimondo.
CTC: Via the WSJ on a new IG audit.
“The Internal Revenue Service sent $1.1 billion in advanced child tax credit payments during 2021 to people who shouldn’t have gotten them, and failed to send $3.7 billion to eligible households."
“Congress expanded the child tax credit and authorized monthly payments in the March 2021 relief law signed by President Biden, giving a tax agency accustomed to annual refund payments an unprecedented test in administering monthly benefits.”
State
California: Kindergarten saw big enrollment drop during pandemic. What’s happening now?
New York: Judge orders NYPD union members fired over vax mandate reinstated.
Ohio: More than 30% of students were chronically absent this past school year, nearly double the pre-pandemic rate.
Economic Recovery
Microcredentials: "Offering "microcredentials" that give students a way to show they have training in a particular skill makes them 75% more likely to enroll in a given academic program, per a new survey from education platform Coursera."
Resources
Nearly Half of Schools Providing Home Internet Access to Students Who Need It This School Year: THE Journal on IES Pulse Survey Data.
94% — of public schools surveyed reported they are providing digital devices, such as laptops or tablets, to students who need them for the 2022–23 school year.
45% of respondents, reported that they are providing internet access to the students who need it at their homes. 41% said they were not providing internet access to students at home, and 13% said they didn’t know.
"We Wasted A Lot of Time": Providence Journal reporter Linda Borg grades herself critically for her coverage of the state takeover, pandemic shutdown, and schools reopening.
The Future of Youth Privacy is Here: Great overview by IAPP including California's AADC.
Staffing Shortages Continue to Plague Schools: Via the Washington Post.
Election Guide 2022: K-12 Issues and Candidates Shaping the Midterms: Via EdWeek.
Penta: Launches as the world’s first comprehensive stakeholder solutions firm.
Merger of Ballast Research, Hamilton Place Strategies, Flag Media Analytics, alva, Gotham Research Group, and Decode_M Merge,
Matt McDonald will serve as CEO. Senior Partners Tony Fratto, Alberto Lopez-Valenzuela, and Mike Berland, as well as Kevin Madden, who is returning to the firm after three years as executive vice president at Arnold Ventures.
Congrats Matt, tony and Kevin!
This Is Weird: The best way to see Van Gogh's "Starry Night" is to stare at the center of the spiral for 20 seconds and then look at the painting.