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Federal Updates
Treasury: Released updated FAQs for Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.
- Fiscal recovery funds can pay for the “full salary and benefits of many school and child care staff,” as well as to train potential workers to fill in-demand roles in child care and education, including as school bus drivers, school nutrition staff, paraprofessionals and other staff.
- Projects to improve school energy efficiency and air ventilation can also be financed with the funds.
- "Recipients may use [the] funds to invest in broadband infrastructure that, where practicable, is designed to deliver service that reliably meets or exceeds symmetrical upload and download speeds of 100 Mbps to households or businesses with an identified need for additional broadband investment. ‘Businesses’ in this context refers broadly to include non-residential users of broadband, including private businesses and institutions that serve the public, such as schools, libraries, health care facilities and public safety organizations."
- Recipients must obligate all funds by Dec. 31, 2024 and spend down the money by Dec. 31, 2026.
Federal Communications Commission: Opens third and likely final round of funding to address homework gap.
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COVID-19 Research
1,000,000 Deaths: U.S. coronavirus death toll surpasses 1 million.
Study Finds COVID Vaccine Materials Written at Too-high Reading Level: Mayo study.
- COVID-19 vaccine informational material is written at more than a 10th-grade reading level and thus is far too difficult for the average American to understand.
- At least 25% of the U.S. population has very low-level reading skills and is unable to comprehend a bus schedule or medication and cleaning-product labels, the authors said.
- " ‘Our study demonstrates that a significant portion of the U.S. general public is unable to comprehend the available vaccine information in the documents we studied,’ the authors concluded. ‘Given the importance of these documents to inform and build trust within the community regarding COVID-19 vaccines, greater effort must be applied to improve the readability of these information documents.’ "
COVID-19 Precautions in Schools: Via EdNext:
BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 May Escape Antibodies Generated by BA.1 Infection: New study.
COVID Hospitalization May Affect Thinking Similar to 20 Years of Aging: Study / Press release. More via The Guardian and Bloomberg.
COVID-19 Tied to Adverse Maternal Outcomes, Preterm Birth: A study of more than 6,000 women who gave birth in Canada during the pandemic suggests that those infected with COVID-19 were at higher risk for hospitalization and intensive care unit admission than those of nonpregnant women of childbearing age. More via CIDRAP.
- "Infection, even if mild, was tied to a significantly higher risk of preterm birth (less than 37 weeks' gestation) than no infection. Of 175 preterm births with detailed delivery data, 46% were spontaneous and 54% were induced."
Why is U.S. National Data So Terrible?: Katelyn Jetelina interviews the CDC's Caitlin Rivers.
How Coronavirus is Getting Closer to the Flu: Via Stat
Sensitivity of Home COVID Rapid Antigen Tests Peaks 4 Days After Illness Onset: "The sensitivity of home rapid antigen COVID-19 tests peaks 4 days after symptom onset, suggesting that a negative antigen test should be followed by a second test in 1 or 2 days, according to a prospective study published in JAMA Internal Medicine."
Paxlovid: "Paxlovid’s failure as a preventative measure raises questions, but doctors still back it as a therapeutic," Stat reports.
Why Are Vaccines Still Important If So Many Kids Have Already Had COVID-19? Via Fox 7 Austin
- “The CDC and other public health experts overwhelmingly say that ongoing safety monitoring shows that COVID-19 vaccination continues to be safe for children and that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the known and potential risks. It also helps to reduce the virus’ chance of mutating into new, more worrisome variants.”
- “Vaccines have absolutely changed childhood survival in this country and around the world, and the COVID vaccine is no exception. There is, in my mind, no reason not to get a potentially life-saving, preventative vaccine," said Melissa Marx, an assistant professor and epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
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Viewpoints
Society for Human Resource Management Backs Alternative Credentials: In new report and article.
- "Training certificates, course completion certificates, industry or professional certifications and other types of 'alternative credentials' can help employers further their hiring diversity, equity and inclusion goals as well as bolster career development."
- "Alternative credentials can be defined as any microcredential, industry or professional certification, acknowledgment of apprenticeship (registered or nonregistered) or badging that indicates one’s competencies and skills within a particular field. Alternative credentials do not include traditional academic degrees or required occupational licensures."
School Districts’ Post-COVID Strategies for Summer Learning: "Nearly 60% of the nation’s school districts and charter organizations expect to spend a portion of their federal American Rescue Plan funding on summer learning or on a combination of summer and afterschool programs, according to a FutureEd analysis of spending plans for more than 4,100 local education agencies compiled by the Burbio data services firm."
A Third of U.S. College Students Consider Withdrawing: Via Gallup.
Mental Health Problems Among Children and Adolescents During COVID-19 Pandemic: A systematic review. Coverage from Kaiser Health News.
- The study "found unusually high rates of anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, suicidal behavior, stress-related disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and other mental health problems during the pandemic. Individual behaviors such as hobbies, praying and listening to music were associated with positive mental health, the studies also found."
Parent Perception Barometer: Via Bellwether.
- A majority of parents want to see schools change to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Parents’ concern for their children’s academic progress remains high in 2022.
- Two years after the pandemic began, a majority of parents remain worried about their children’s mental health.
- Worry about sending kids to in-person schooling is down, but some parents remain concerned.
- In most states, public school enrollment has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
How Social and Emotional Learning Became a New Front in the Culture Wars: Via Rick Hess
The Education Culture War is Raging. But for Most Parents, It's Background Noise: Via NPR
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… And on a Reflective Note
It's May!:
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