Top Three
Omicron Sublineage BA.2.75.2 Exhibits Extensive Escape From Neutralizing Antibodies: New study in the Lancet.
"SARS-CoV-2 omicron sublineage BA.2.75 expanded rapidly in parts of the world, but it has so far not outcompeted BA.5 globally."
"Across all three timepoints, neutralisation of BA.2.75.2 by serum antibodies was significantly lower than all other variants tested (figure C, D, and E). Both R346T and F486S mutations contributed to the significantly enhanced resistance of BA.2.75.2 compared with BA.2.75."
Studying Impact of Covid on Student Learning: Via EdNC: "The N.C. Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) and North Carolina Collaboratory are leading a joint $6.73 million effort to spur research on the impact of COVID-19 on student learning in the state, with the goal of helping educators and students recover from pandemic-related disruptions and lost instructional time."
"Based on priorities identified by NCDPI’s Office of Learning Recovery and Acceleration (OLR), the partnership will fund 20 academic research teams across North Carolina to understand the effectiveness of existing state and local programs and policies that were supported through federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) legislation."
"The 20 research teams, many of which will collaborate with key stakeholders such as elementary schools, will receive between $150,000 and $500,000 to conduct the projects listed below. Each project will last approximately two years, with many slated to start as early as next month."
Landscape of High-Impact Tutoring in D.C.’s Public Schools, 2021-22: Via the DC Policy Center.
"During its first year of implementation, SY21-22, OSSE and CityTutor DC invested $5 million of philanthropic and public funding directly to 17 HIT providers and a subset of schools to provide tutoring services"
"HIT was in use by at least 20 LEAs who responded to the D.C. Policy Center’s questionnaire, representing 76 percent of public school enrollment."
"HIT likely targeted at least 6% of students. OSSE and CityTutor DC directly funded HIT for 5,000 to 7,200 students, which overlapped with LEA-funded efforts. DCPS, for example, planned to reach 5 to 10% of students.”
Federal
HHS: Extended the public health emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic for another 90 days. The emergency has been in effect since Jan 21, 2020, and has now been renewed 11 times.
WSJ: "The decision means pandemic programs that have helped support hospitals and expand health coverage will remain in place. Under the designation, pharmacists have been allowed to administer Covid-19 shots. People on Medicaid aren’t required to renew their eligibility. States have gotten a boost in federal Medicaid payments."
Covid-19 Research
Covid Variant Tracking: CIDRAP: In its latest variant proportion estimates today, the CDC said BA.5 slipped to 67.9%, with three others gaining steady ground: BQ.1 (5.7%), BQ.1.1 (5.7%), and BF.7 (5.3%). BA.4.6, which rose this summer, especially in the southern part of the Midwest, held relatively steady at 12.2%.
Long COVID Rates: Axios on CDC data.
Fall Boosters, Myocarditis, and Benefits/Risks for Young People: Via Katelyn Jetelina
"Last week, the Florida State Surgeon General issued new guidance on the COVID vaccines based on an analysis they performed. One of their findings: “an increased risk of cardiac-related death among men 18-39” for the mRNA vaccines. The state of Florida no longer recommends vaccines for this group."
"Many scientists and clinicians voiced deep concerns with this Florida analysis. Numerous responses have shown why the methods and results were flawed and, thus, lead to inaccurate conclusions and poor health policy decisions. (For example, see this really great blog by Kristen Panthagani, MD, PhD.)"
But millions of young people do have a legitimate question about the fall booster: Do I really need a COVID19 fall booster?"
"The calculus between benefits and risks of this vaccine changes over time, but there are still significant benefits to the fall booster, even for young males. Only you can weigh those benefits with risks, but to me the story is still clear: everyone should get a fall booster."
Responding to Increasing Parental Vaccine Hesitancy:Essay in Contemporary Pediatrics.
"Many parents are requesting custom, alternative schedules that are not evidence-based, often after reading emotionally charged stories of extremely rare adverse reactions that are elevated by an abundance of negative media coverage."
"In today’s reality, parents have an overwhelming plethora of information at their fingertips with little preparation or resources to carefully consider the reliability of each source."
"In general, providers should make a practice of requesting permission to approach parents’ hesitancy regarding vaccination. Concerns should be acknowledged with validation and empathy for accompanying parental emotions."
"Providers must carefully consider body language implications and convey an unhurried demeanor. They should sit at eye level with the parents and avoid charting, writing, or looking at a computer screen during the conversation."
"It is best practice for providers to focus on an individualized risk-benefit assessment (vs general aggregates) while carefully evaluating the parents’ readiness to change their feelings and beliefs related to vaccine hesitancy and /or refusal."
Covid Research
DC:
D.C. Council could delay coronavirus vaccine mandate for kids.
Charts of the week: Learning outcomes by cohort before and during COVID-19.
Indiana: Via The 74.
"A new tutoring program in Indiana is putting parents in charge of their children’s learning recovery, giving families up to $1,000 in funding to use for academic support for eligible fourth and fifth graders."
"The $15 million program, Indiana Learns, is aimed at students who scored below proficiency in math and English on last year’s ILearn state test and qualify for free and reduced-price school lunch."
"Participants can come from private, charter or district schools, and each will receive a guaranteed $500 from the state to pay for tutoring outside regular school hours to recover learning lost during the pandemic. Families can visit the Indiana Learns website to see if their children are eligible, and can start selecting tutors on Oct. 15."
New Jersey: Newark schools’ crossing guard shortage prompts search for solutions.
"There are about 170 crossing guard positions in Newark, but only 97 of them were filled as of earlier this month, Phillips said. That’s left the police department rushing to fill 74 of them."
"For the city’s 30 crossing guard positions assigned to charter schools, only 13 are currently staffed, and for Newark Public Schools, only 83 positions are filled out of 140, Phillips added. Some of the city’s 66 public schools have multiple crossing guard positions for nearby intersections."
Utah: 7 takeaways from the new report cards for Utah schools and students
The pandemic had an outsized impact on reading scores and the youngest students.
American Indian and Alaskan students are not displaying the same recovery.
Standardized test scores increased statewide for math.
There was less improvement in language arts than hoped for.
High school scores are a mixed bag — but reading struggles persist.
ACT scores went up slightly for 11th graders — but dropped for all high schoolers combined.
Resources
Chronic Absenteeism: Via Chalkbeat.
"Because it’s super simplified, it’s hiding a lot of nuances,” said Jing Liu, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland’s College of Education. “We need to differentiate the reason behind absences to know how to help an individual kid.”
"That’s what Liu and a colleague set out to do when they examined daily, class-level attendance data for nearly 40,000 middle and high school students in a big-city California district from the 2015-16 to 2017-18 school years."
"A few patterns jumped out: Unexcused absences spiked as the year progressed, while excused absences held steady. Black and Hispanic students and students from low-income neighborhoods racked up unexcused absences faster than their white and more affluent peers. And when students missed a lot of class at the start of the year, their absences stacked up at a faster rate, too."
Rural Teacher Prep Program Delivers ‘Job-Embedded’ Degrees — For $75 a Month: Via The 74.
"Joe Ross, president of California-based Reach University, believes the solution lies close at hand. Nationwide, over a million paraprofessionals work side-by-side with lead teachers, he points out, and many have the know-how to step into greater responsibility. His school’s model, he said, helps eliminate financial and geographic barriers for those educators so they can gain the credentials necessary to lead a classroom."
“The degree is fully job-embedded from the very first day to the very last day,” Ross explained, meaning candidates continue earning a salary in their existing jobs all the way through the program. Thanks to Pell grants and funding the school receives as an apprenticeship provider, no student pays more than $900 per year, he said, and the program is free for participating districts."
Will Pandemic Learning Loss Cost $700 Billion to Fix?:Nat Malkus has questions.3 of 4 High School Students Report Bad Experiences During COVID: CDC MMWR study.
"Nearly three of four students said they had at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE), such as emotional abuse or food insecurity, during the pandemic. Respondents who reported at least four ACEs were at three or four times the risk for mental illness and 25 times the risk for reporting a suicide attempt in the past year than those who reported no ACEs."
"The researchers noted that concerns about poor adolescent mental health and suicidal behaviors preceded the pandemic and escalated after it began. For more than 10 years, they said, suicide has been the second or third leading cause of death among teens aged 14 to 18 years."
How Has the Pandemic Affected Students With Disabilities? An Update on the Evidence: Via CRPE.
Heavy is the Bear the Wears the Crown: 747 wins Fat Bear Week.
Hugging It Out: Beckley meeting his new family for the first time.