Covid-19 Policy Update #649
Thursday 3/13
Top Three
Babies Exposed to Mild COVID-19 in Womb Show Normal Brain Development: CIDRAP: "The researchers found no significant differences in infants exposed to COVID-19 in utero and those with no exposure. Timing of exposure in any of the pregnancy trimesters also had no link to delays. Moreover, there were no differences among infants whose mothers had been infected with COVID shortly before pregnancy or those who had never been infected."
Traditional Values Closely Linked to Following COVID-19 Precautions, Except in US: CIDRAP on a new study.
"Worldwide, people who professed to have more traditional or socially conservative values were more likely to adhere to COVID-19 recommendations, but in the United States people with those values were more likely to dismiss such recommendations."
"The study was published in Scientific Reports and conducted by anthropologists who surveyed nearly 8,000 people in 27 countries across North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Participants ranked their response to a number of statements about traditional values, then were also asked about how and if they took precautionary measures during the COVID-19 pandemic."
"In the U.S. — which has been shown to be something of a global outlier in this regard — the investigators found that factors like a distrust of science, concerns about the effects disease precautions may have on the economy and the desire to preserve personal liberties suppressed the predicted cautionary decision-making of social conservatives, even though that group is more likely to self-describe as “traditional.”
“In countries where the discourse around science and trust was less polarized, traditionalists were more willing to embrace precautions than their more socially liberal counterparts,” Fessler said. “The U.S., where these topics were highly politicized, suffered more COVID-19 deaths per capita than any other highly developed nation.”
A District Playbook to Address Students’ Growing Mental Health Needs: Via EdWeek.
"AASA, The School Superintendents Association, and The Jed Foundation this week announced the initiative, called The District Comprehensive Approach, that aims to provide school districts across the country with a framework of best practices, expert support, and data-driven guidance about how to best support students’ mental health and prevent suicide."
"The organization’s guidance for high schools focuses on seven overarching themes: developing life skills, promoting social connectedness, encouraging help-seeking behaviors, improving recognition of signs of distress, access to mental health care, establishing crisis management procedures, and promoting the importance of keeping lethal and dangerous items away from children."
Federal
Free COVID Testing Will Fade With US Health Emergency in May: Via the AP.
Commerce: EDA launches the STEM Talent Challenge.
Federal Rankings: "The annual rankings, assembled by the Partnership for Public Service and Boston Consulting Group, show employee satisfaction across the bureaucracy and how likely employees are to recommend their workplace."
ED was 19 out of 27 midsized agencies with a 68.3 Engagement and Satisfaction Score.
Dramatic Realignment Swings Working-Class Districts Toward GOP: Via Axios
"Nine of the top 10 wealthiest congressional districts are represented by Democrats, while Republicans now represent most of the poorer half of the country."
"Republicans were the party of the country club, and they're increasingly the party of country," lobbyist and political analyst Bruce Mehlman told Axios."
"64% of congressional districts with median incomes below the national median are now represented by Republicans — a shift in historical party demographic."
State
Colorado: "Colorado is making the digital learning program Zearn Math available for free to schools statewide as part of a broader effort to address gaps in math learning that widened during the pandemic." (Gov's press release)
"Gov. Jared Polis has set aside up to $6 million in pandemic relief money to pay for licenses for the digital program and to pay for printed materials for schools that adopt Zearn’s math curriculum Training also will be available to teachers in how to use the new platform."
New Jersey: Newark prepares for summer school programming focused on learning loss and enrichment.
New York: "Buoyed in recent years by billions in federal stimulus dollars, New York City is slated to spend about $38,000 per student next school year — the most in recent history — as enrollment is again expected to drop, according to a new report published Tuesday."
Economic Recovery
Rise of the Rest: Via the Washington Post.
"Silicon Valley still ranked first last year in terms of venture-capital investments and the number of deals, according to data from PitchBook. But funding for companies in Miami have nearly quadrupled in the last three years, totaling $5.39 billion in 2022, while deal volume jumped 81%. Austin venture capital investments rose 77% to $4.95 billion with the number of deals jumping 23%. New York, Seattle, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver and Houston also saw relatively large increases in investment and deals, data shows."
"But Silicon Valley’s share of total value of venture capital investments in the United States last year was at its lowest since 2012. And nearly 250,000 people left the Silicon Valley region during the pandemic, according to census data from April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022."
"But unlike the past, more start-ups are popping up in other places — like Seattle, which is producing start-ups focused on cloud infrastructure and developer tools, and New York, which has also been a hot bed for AI, said Bryan Offutt, partner at Index Ventures focused on investments in software infrastructure and AI. “Five years ago, 90% of companies would’ve been founded in San Francisco,” he said. “Now it might be more like 70%, with others starting in places like Seattle and New York.”
Recession Risks:
Politico: "Federal Reserve economists believe that recent banking turmoil will trigger a mild recession later this year, a potentially ominous sign for President Joe Biden as he heads into an election campaign. Their projection was for “a mild recession starting later this year, with a recovery over the subsequent two years,” according to the minutes, released Wednesday. That would spark a jump in unemployment. They estimated the economy would fully recover by 2025."
Goldman: "Our judgmental 12-month probability [of a recession] remains at 35%, above our 25% estimate prior to SVB weekend but far below the 65% Bloomberg consensus as well as the view of the Fed staff."
The Top 25 Entry-Level Jobs for College Grads in 2023: Via Bloomberg.
Resources
In School, Engaged, On-track? The Effect of the Pandemic on Student Attendance, Course Grades, and Grade Retention in North Carolina: EdWorking Paper.
"This study extends research evidence to additional student outcomes – absences, course grades, and grad retention – and to examine how pandemic effects are distributed across students."
"Using a combination of descriptive and regression analyses, we find negative average impacts on all outcomes."
"Effects are also largest in middle school for most outcomes and are typically larger among historically marginalized groups of students."
Schools Used ESSER Funds for After-School Programs. What Happens When the Money Runs Out?: Via EdWeek.
How COVID, Technology Created Unruly Children: Via The 74.
SEL, Mentoring, Career Prep: Schools That Deliver What Parents Say They Want: Via The 74.
"The Canopy project, a collaborative effort to share information about K-12 innovation, recently published data from a survey of leaders in 251 schools."
"Nearly three-quarters of the schools in Canopy indicate they’re prioritizing connection and community as a key element of students’ experiences."
"Almost 7 in 10 schools report nurturing not only learning, but human development, character, health and well-being. Four in five schools in Canopy report using project-based learning, an approach that builds skills like collaboration and critical thinking alongside core content. Most schools also report assessing those soft skills (often called deeper learning assessments). A majority (57%) say they engage students in career-oriented learning opportunities, like interview practice or apprenticeships, and about half report that students learn through community service. Smaller proportions of schools assess career-readiness skills (38%) and self-directed learning skills (21%)."
"Almost two-thirds of schools reported prioritizing student self-direction, meaning that students set and pursue learning goals largely independently from adult oversight."
AI:
Meta is open-sourcing its code for an AI system that brings hand-drawn artwork to life with animation. Will be amazing to see kid's artwork brought to life.
Here's my version 3 of a ChatpGPT prompt that creates an adaptive tutor by asking the student their grade and their interests. It then incorporates examples based on those interests. It’s not perfect yet, but getting better with each iteration.
And two Midjourney images I created today using the prompt: "amazing photograph of a Labrador retriever chasing a tennis ball under water, fisheye lens, close up portrait, crazy image --v 5 --q 2"
Lin-Manuel Miranda: Surprises Mass. high school performing ‘In the Heights’
Moms for the Win: Mom's changed the walkout song for little leaguers and did not disappoint.