This is our weekly briefing on how the pandemic is shaping schools and education policy, vetted, as always, by AEI Visiting Fellow John Bailey. Click here to see the full archive. Get this weekly roundup, as well as rolling daily updates, delivered straight to your inbox — sign up for The 74 Newsletter.
As Schools Open, How Can We Protect Our Kids From Delta?: Blog from former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden that answers …
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August 6, 2021 — The Big Three
American Academy of Pediatrics Updates Guidance on Supporting Emotional and Behavioral Needs of Children in the Pandemic
The Fallout from the Pandemic’s K-Shaped Recession May Be Felt By Students for Years: New series from The 74.
The Madness of Teachers Unions Opposing a Vaccine Mandate: Essay by Jonathan Chait in New York magazine.
Return to School Roadmap: Released by the U.S. Department of Education (Fact Sheet / Guide / Checklist)
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: Full text of the infrastructure deal. Section-by-section summary. Some education highlights:
Department of Health and Human Services: “Two more whistleblowers have come forward to allege that children were mistreated by contractors and senior federal employee managers at a Department Health and Human Services migrant shelter in Fort Bliss, Texas, earlier this year, and also say HHS told them to downplay hundreds of COVID infections among children held at the facility,” NBC News reports.
Department of Agriculture: Introduces first Alexa skill to help parents with nutrition information for kids.
Colorado: State health officials recommend but won’t require masks for K-12 school staffers, students.
Florida: Broward County Public Schools has dropped its mask mandate after Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order that would cut off funding to schools that kept the requirement.
Idaho: Is experiencing a surge of pediatric cases: “The current pace is 53 per 100,000 children from newborn to age 4, up from 16 per 100,000 two weeks ago, Kathryn Turner, deputy state epidemiologist at the Idaho Division of Public Health, said during an online briefing Tuesday.
Mississippi: Lamar County School District announced that two of its high schools were closing and going all-virtual until Aug. 16 “due to the high transmission rate of COVID-19.”
Tennessee: State education department released state test results. Chalkbeat reports the results showed a decrease of “5 percentage points since 2019, the last time that public school students in grades 3-11 took standardized tests.”
COVID-19 Research
CDC and Delta:
The Costs of Selling COVID Fear: James Surowiecki writes: “COVID vaccines are incredibly effective. The media’s overhyping of new research from the CDC is making people think otherwise.”
AstraZeneca and Pfizer Have Same Level of Blood Clot Risk: According to a new study (preprint here).
Pfizer Vaccine May Get Full Approval by Labor Day: The NewYork Times reports and Dr. Anthony Fauci suggests.
Long-lasting COVID Symptoms Rare in Children: Most children who develop COVID-19 symptoms recover after six days, and the number who experience symptoms beyond four weeks is low, according to a UK study published in Lancet.
The Provincetown COVID Data is Actually Good News (If You Are Vaccinated): Argues Ignu Yun.
United Kingdom: Government officials are considering offering the vaccine to 16- and 17-year-olds. That would be a reversal of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which two weeks ago recommended against vaccinating children.
Chaos and Confusion: Back to School Turns Ugly as Delta Variant Rages: Via Politico
How Has the Pandemic Affected Students’ Social-Emotional Well-Being? A Review of the Evidence to Date: Valuable piece from CRPE with what we know and what we don’t know, along with recommendations.
For High Schools, Let’s Preserve Variant of Hybrid Learning After COVID: Argues Michael Horn. “Many schools should explore something that made sense pre-pandemic as well: flipping the school day.”
The $200 Billion Question: American Enterprise Institute’s Nat Malkus digs into the rounds of federal funding for K12 education with some interesting data and analysis. And he launched an Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Data Explorer
High-Impact Tutoring District Playbook: From the National Student Support Accelerator
Restart & Recovery — Addressing Unfinished Learning for the Youngest Learners: New resource from the Council of Chief State School Officers that provides strategies state leaders can use to deploy accelerated plans to equitably close learning gaps among the youngest learners.
Fall 2021 School Reopening Toolkit: Great new document and compilation of resources from Chiefs for Change
How Much Have Students Missed Academically Because of the Pandemic? A Review of the Evidence to Date: New report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education
…And on a Lighter Note
Disclosure: John Bailey is an adviser to the Walton Family Foundation, which provides financial support to The 74.
This content was originally published here.
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