Top Three
Could Tutoring Be the Best Tool for Fighting Learning Loss?: Via the NYT.
"As schools confront this massive learning loss, in-school tutoring may be one of the most effective tools they have to get students back on track, many experts said. The federal government is confident enough about the evidence behind tutoring that it is investing heavily in such programs."
"The biggest challenge to implementing these programs, of course, is cost. In-person tutoring is expensive, requiring close coordination with the classroom and a large supply of tutors. But advocates argue that it’s worth the effort."
"Matthew Kraft, an associate professor of education and economics at Brown University and a co-author of a paper on how to build a national tutoring program, said that, in more than a decade of research, he has yet to see a body of evidence “as broad and compelling as the evidence for high cost, intensive long-term tutoring” in public schools. He estimates the cost of universal K-12 public school tutoring at about $50 billion a year."
"Since 2018, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — one of the philanthropic investors providing funding for in-school tutoring — has worked with Saga to significantly bring down the cost of in-person tutoring, to $1,300 per pupil from $3,400 per pupil. That accomplishment represents the kind of innovation the new funding is designed to support. Bob Hughes, the director of K-12 Education for the foundation, said he hopes that, through research, schools can eventually understand which students need a $500 tutoring model, versus $1,200 or $3,400, making these programs more sustainable with public dollars."
Kids With Preexisting Illness at Highest Risk for Severe COVID-19 and Death: Study in AAP:
Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas analyzed the electronic health records of US COVID-19 patients aged 0 to 18 years from Mar 12, 2020, to Jan 20, 2022.
Of 218,759 pediatric COVID-19 patients, 8,717 (4.0%) were hospitalized, admitted to an intensive care unit, needed ventilation, or died. The strongest risk factor for a severe outcome was a preexisting illness.
COVID Wave Looms in Europe: Via Reuters.
"WHO data released late on Wednesday showed that cases in the European Union (EU) reached 1.5 million last week, up 8% from the prior week, despite a dramatic fall in testing. Globally, case numbers continue to decline."
"Hospitalisation numbers across many countries in the 27-nation bloc, as well as Britain, have gone up in recent weeks."
"In the week ended Oct 4, COVID-19 hospital admissions with symptoms jumped nearly 32% in Italy, while intensive care admissions rose about 21%, compared to the week before, according to data compiled by independent scientific foundation Gimbe."
"Over the same week, COVID hospitalisations in Britain saw a 45% increase versus the week earlier."
Covid Research
Long COVID Disables Millions: Via Axios, "Of the nearly 24 million U.S. adults who currently have long COVID, more than 80% are having some trouble carrying out daily activities, according to new CDC data."
"Between Sept. 14 and Sept. 26, more than one in four adults with long COVID reported significant limitations on day-to-day activities, per the CDC data."
"The number jumps closer to 40% for respondents who are Black, Latino or disabled — three groups that shouldered outsized burdens throughout the pandemic."
Paxlovid Effectiveness, Rebounding, Drug Interactions: Via Katelyn Jetelina.
COVID Rebound After Pfizer Treatment Likely Due to Robust Immune Response: Via Reuters:
"A rebound of COVID-19 symptoms in some patients after taking Pfizer's antiviral Paxlovid may be related to a robust immune response rather than a weak one, U.S. government researchers reported on Thursday."
"They concluded that taking a longer course of the drug - beyond the recommended five days - was not required to reduce the risk of a recurrence of symptoms as some have suggested, based on an intensive investigation of rebound in eight patients at the National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center."
Bivalent Beta Booster: Study, "These results indicate that bivalent booster vaccines can induce potent, durable and broad antibody responses against multiple variants, providing a new tool in response to emerging variants."
A Wave of Anti-Vaccine Legislation is Sweeping the United States: Via Vox.
State
New York: NYC principals with enrollment shortfalls brace for more budget cuts.
“Principals receive their midyear budget adjustment —which takes away money from schools whose enrollment falls short of projections and adds money to those with more students than predicted — typically each fall after enrollment counts are finalized on Oct. 31, and again later in the winter.”
“The midyear adjustment is meant to address any student roster imbalances from the budgets issued in June, which are based on education department projections for the coming school year.”
“When schools end up with fewer students on their rosters than projected or have students with extremely low attendance rates they can lose per pupil funding for those kids midway through the school year.”
“That amounts to more than $4,000 a student for a general education high school student and up to nearly $12,000 a head for students with disabilities, who receive extra funding, according to DOE figures.”
Economic Recovery
Jobs Report: "Employers added 263,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department announced in its monthly jobs report Friday, ticking down from August and following months of strong job growth that defined the pandemic recovery economy. The September figure is the lowest monthly increase in jobs since April 2021."
"In September, 5.2% of employed persons teleworked because of the coronavirus pandemic, down from 6.5% in the prior month.
WSJ: "September’s slowing of wage gains wasn’t enough to help the Fed meet its inflation goal, economists said. “That’s still too strong for an inflation target of 2%, but it’s a step in the right direction,” said Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo."
One surprise - jobs in K12 education fell -21,700
GeoPolitical Risk:
"The president’s warnings, delivered bluntly to a group of Democratic donors rather than in a more formal setting, came as analysts in Washington have been debating whether Mr. Putin might resort to tactical nuclear weapons to counter his mounting military losses in Ukraine."
AP: "The president’s grim assessment, delivered during a Democratic fundraiser on Thursday night, rippled around the globe and appeared to edge beyond the boundaries of current U.S. intelligence assessments. U.S. security officials continue to say they have no evidence that Vladimir Putin has imminent plans for a nuclear strike."
The walk back: "The United States did not have any new intel about Russia and nuclear weapons before President Biden's stark "Armageddon" warning, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday. We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture," she added. "Nor do we have indications that Russia is preparing to imminently use nuclear weapons."
Inflation Is ‘Very Stressful’ for Almost Half of US Households: Bloomberg on new Census data.
Resources
Students Say COVID-19 Aid Improved Grades, Relieved Stress: Via Inside Higher Ed.
A majority of students who received emergency aid used the money to pay for food, books and housing.
"NASFAA and its partners surveyed 18,000 students about the emergency aid as well as 321 institutions. More than half of the students said they received emergency financial assistance, ranging from $1,000 to $2,000.”
“The majority used the money to pay for food, books and housing, while a third put the funds toward tuition, technology, internet service or utilities."
New Value Networks: The Missing Piece in the K–12 Disruption Equation: Via Thomas Arnett
"Disruptive innovations need three enablers: a technology, an organizational model, and a value network."
"In K–12 education, it’s hard to find value networks that can support new organizational models."
"Technology alone, however, doesn’t disrupt an industry. Its disruptive potential hinges on whether it gets used to enable a disruptive organizational model. By leveraging the enabling technology, disruptive organizational models can offer their value propositions in a more affordable, customizable, convenient, or otherwise accessible way compared to incumbent solutions."
"Developing new organizational models for K-12 education is challenging because most K–12 funding and most opportunities to create new programs and schools are tied to conventional value networks."
A Strategy for Re-Engaging Students Post-Pandemic: Via FutureEd
Sounding Out a Better Way to Teach Reading: Via NYT":
"Schools are returning to phonics and other evidence-based literacy methods, and already there are signs that the switch is paying off in improved scores."
“Nineteen states have passed legislation requiring this sort of evidence-based reading instruction, including Tennessee, Alabama and North Carolina, with many more districts, like Richmond, using the extra federal dollars to overhaul their reading curriculum and train teachers.”
“Mississippi, the first state to pass legislation in 2013, saw its fourth-grade reading scores jump strikingly over the past decade, moving the state to 29th in the nation by 2019, from 49th in 2013. North Carolina, which has trained thousands of teachers on the instructional approach, recently released scores showing students in the primary grades made gains greater in reading proficiency than those in other states.”
More Pets Please: It's been a long week for the lemurs...