This page has been archived. Last updated as of 22 Jan 2022 and may no longer be relevant
Trends in Correctional Facilities
In February, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced the first systematic effort to collect nationally representative data on the status of school reopening and instructional modes across the country. Last week, the first results were released with data from 3,300 schools (of 5,000 surveyed) in 42 states. The data is available, and will be updated, at the School Survey Dashboard. Among the findings, 78% of 4th grade students and 74% of 8th grade students are in schools where hybrid or full-time in-person learning is available to some or all students. There are some
This week, the CDC issued revised guidance for schools on safe, in-person operation. The main change is a reduction in the physical distancing recommendations from at least 6 feet of space between students in classrooms to at least 3 feet, though there are also recommendations for when maintaining a minimum distance of 6 feet is still recommended. Notably, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that schools implement 3 to 6 feet of physical distancing and the World Health Organization suggests 1 meter, or 3.3 feet, between students in schools.
Neurological manifestation of SARS-CoV-2: Inflammation and therapeutics
Last week, Congress passed, and President Biden signed into law, the American Rescue Plan Act. The legislation has pronounced implications for schools and students with substantial dollars targeted to K-12 education and higher education, funding to support the childcare industry, and an expanded child tax credit. The nearly $130 billion heading to K-12 school districts constitutes the largest single federal outlay in history, and is earmarked for facilitating safe in-person reopening and providing resources to redress learning setbacks caused by pandemic-induced schooling disruptions.
Resource Allocation
This article by Ehmann et al. provides operational recommendations to address resource allocation during a public health emergency. The recommendations were developed through a consortium of five health systems in Maryland, representing over half of all hospital in the state. Building on the foundation of existing ethical guidance, the recommendations focus on practical application. Finding that no single algorithm was universally applicable for all resource types, the authors include operational algorithms for several different potentially scarce resources:
This week’s articles explore hesitancies towards vaccines and other COVID-19 preventive behaviors and communicative strategies for encouraging uptake of these actions.
One major impediment to research on the relationship between K-12 schooling modes and COVID-19 health metrics—and to better understanding the effects of schooling modes on many outcomes of interest—is the lack of comprehensive, detailed data on school operations and policies. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) recently announced a systematic effort to collect representative data on the status of in-person learning. On the heels of President Biden’s Executive Order on school and childcare operations, the survey is intended to provide data to support safe school reopening and continued operations, and to inform future policies
