Covid-19 Policy Update #646
Covid-19 Policy Update #646
Monday 4/3
Top Three
Study-Buddy Bots: Via TechCrunch: “Emily Oster announced a new line of AI-powered tutors to help accelerate academic recovery for students coming out of Covid."
"Each Study-Buddy Bot is equipped with advanced AI technology powered by ChatGPT-4, the latest iteration of OpenAI's LLM model."
"With the ability to understand natural language and provide intelligent responses, the Study-Buddy Bots can engage in interactive and dynamic tutoring sessions with students. Whether it's solving complex math problems, practicing language skills, or exploring scientific concepts, these Buddy-Bots are equipped to handle a wide range of subjects."
"A parent-mode enables a feature where parents can ask the bot questions related to the Family Firm, Expecting Better, and Cribsheet."
"By integrating the most advanced technology from OpenAI, the valuable insights gathered from COVID-19 School Data Hub and Parent Data, as well as the research-based principles outlined in my books, our Study-Buddy Bots are uniquely positioned to revolutionize the way students learn and parents parent," explained Emily Oster.
"Plus, with its savvy 'trade-off' mode, parents can finally make those tough calls—like choosing between a family game night or an evening of blissful silence. Let Study-Buddy be your guide to academic success and parental sanity!"
DIY COVID-19 Vaccine Kit: IKEA has introduced a DIY COVID-19 vaccine kit. The kit includes all necessary components, along with step-by-step instructions, to assemble your vaccine at home.
Sliding Into Week: The Eiffel Tower announced they will debut the world's largest slide this summer.
Federal
ED: Issues request for information regarding the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority.
"IADA seeks to help States interested in fostering and scaling up high-quality, innovative assessments that will replace their current summative assessments."
"Since 2018, five States have been awarded IADA."
The Department has heard from several states and stakeholders that one reason states are reluctant to apply for IADA is because of perceived barriers and restrictions within the current IADA regulations.
The Department is seeking ideas for additional ways states can demonstrate comparability.
The Department is also seeking comments on whether approving a state for IADA that includes a planning period would be helpful to the state in its development work.
Covid Research
White House Covid Adviser Calls on Doctors to Combat a Vacuum of Medical Information: Via Stat:
"What we have seen is the widespread propagation of misinformation and disinformation. And the reason it has taken root is because there was an information vacuum,” Jha said to the group, convened by the Massachusetts Medical Society with support from the New England Journal of Medicine Group. “I come back to our role as physicians. It is critical that we fill that vacuum because if we don’t, others will.”
"Jha also warned that a revisionist history of the early pandemic is taking hold. When the novel coronavirus was first spreading, the only tools at hand were countermeasures like social distancing and masking, followed by lessons learned in hospitals that led to administering dexamethasone, a better understanding of who needed a ventilator and who didn’t, and the role of proning to help patients breathe. “Our hospitals were overwhelmed. People were dying in extraordinary numbers,” he said. “We did not overdo it.”
"Those tools bought us time, Jha said, from April 2020 when hospitalized patients had a 50% chance of dying to when a vaccine authorized in December 2020."
"Improving air quality can reduce infection by 80%, he said, citing an Italian study that said influenza and RSV were lowered that much by changing the air. And it’s doable, “not super expensive,” and important for hospitals overwhelmed by infection-intensive winters, he said. “You’re not asking people to change behavior, right? You’re not saying everybody has to wear a mask indoors for the next four months.”
States With Less Restrictive COVID Policies Outperformed Those With More Restrictions: Paragon Health Institute report:
"The Paragon Health Institute compared the degree of state government response measures developed by Oxford University to health, economic and educational outcome measures in all 50 states and the District of Columbia."
"The index measured government interventions including state-enforced closures of businesses, schools, and other recreational facilities; restrictions on public gatherings; and masking and social distancing requirements."
"The important finding of our study is that states that imposed more severe lockdown measures did not do any better than states that were less restrictive in terms of health, and they did much worse in terms of economic and educational outcomes."
WHO Tracking Omicron XBB.1.16 Subvariant: Via CIDRAP.
"At a Mar 29 press briefing, Maria Van Kerkhove, PhD, the WHO's technical lead for COVID-19, said XBB.1.16 has a similar profile to XBB.1.5 but has an additional changes in the spike protein. She said XBB.1.16 has replaced other circulating subvariants in India."
"XBB.1.16, dubbed “Arcturus” by variant trackers, is very similar to U.S. dominant “Kraken” XBB.1.5—the most transmissible COVID variant yet, Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical lead for the WHO, said earlier this week at a news conference.”
State
California: The annual poll from GPSN and Loyola Marymount University show LA parents focused on learning gaps, access to tutors & emotional enrichment programs.
"The majority of Black families were not committed to keeping their students enrolled in L.A. Unified schools. Parents said they wanted expanded summer school instruction, more college/CTE courses and better access to high-quality tutoring programs."
"After a full year of pandemic learning, 47% of families reported wanting tools to meet students’ emotional and mental health needs. Last year, just 26% of families expressed interest in social-emotional learning tools."
Massachusetts: “In a dramatic reshaping of its makeup, Boston Public Schools has lost half its Black student population in the last two decades, as Black enrollment fell from 29,300 in the 2002-2003 school year to 14,600 last year.”
Economic Recovery
Inflation: The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index—the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation—rose 5% year-over-year in February, down from a 5.3% annual increase in January.
Life Expectancy and Inequality: Via Jeremy Ney
Related: Via John Burn-Murdoch: "At every point on the income distribution, Americans live shorter lives than the English" and "One in 25 American five-year-olds today will not make it to their 40th birthday."
Can Apprenticeships Work in the US? Employers Seeking New Talent Pipelines Take Note: Via HBS.
"Looking closely at a successful US apprentice program in which high school students commit to work part-time while in school with the option to join the company when they graduate, Fuller’s analysis finds that three-quarters of employers wind up happy with their trainees and two-thirds of apprentices go on to college or career."
Resources
America’s Teens Are In Crisis. States Are Racing To Respond: Washington Post Editorial.
"Leaders across the ideological spectrum are surging resources into expanding access to mental health care for kids, especially those who lack strong family support systems."
"Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) launched a Medicaid managed care program last summer that’s already providing 16,000 children specialized behavioral health care. And Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) proposed $230 million to build “a strong and stable behavioral health safety net,” including “greater pre-crisis service capacity in schools.”
"California, Arizona and South Carolina have increased Medicaid reimbursement rates to incentivize psychologists and others to provide mental health services in schools. Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) proposes increasing reimbursement rates for anyone providing mental health services in areas of acute need."
"California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) calls for hiring, training and engaging 40,000 new mental health workers in his state. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) aims to reduce unmet mental health needs among children by half in the next five years."
Teen Mental Health Crisis Pushes More School Districts to Sue Social Media Giants: Via The 74.
A San Diego State Miracle: Wins it at the buzzer. (here's the reaction of the fans at the San Diego Padres game).
Related: Iowa's win over South Carolina was the most-watched college basketball game on an ESPN network since a men's game between Duke and North Carolina in 2008
