The Week in COVID & Education Policy: The Sprint to Get Kids Vaccinated, How Remote Learning Put an End to Snow Days and More Key School Updates
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 鈥 sign up for 麻豆精品 Newsletter.
Vaccines for Children:
- The Biden administration says it is ready to make the as soon as the FDA grants approval.
- Canadian regulators
- Pediatricians:
- 鈥業 love this day!!!鈥:
- What teen vaccines mean for school reopenings, via

May 7, 2021 鈥斅燭he Big Three
60% of School Apps Are Sharing Kids’ Data With Third Parties: A new found the majority of school utility apps were sharing some amount of student data with third-party marketing companies. .
- The report looked at a 鈥渞andom sample of 73 mobile applications used by 38 schools in 14 states across the U.S., covering at least a half a million people (students, their families, educators, etc.) who use those apps鈥
- One 鈥渄isturbing鈥 finding: 18% of apps 鈥渟ent data to what the Me2B Alliance deems very high-risk third parties 鈥 i.e., entities that further share data with possibly hundreds or thousands of networked entities,鈥 according to the report.
No More Snow Days: NYC Public Schools will have remote learning instead of days off for bad weather next school year,
- America鈥檚 largest school district 鈥渨ill shift all students to remote instruction in lieu of canceling schools due to severe weather conditions,” .
- 鈥溾楾his is preposterous,鈥 says Nicholas Christakis, a Yale sociologist, physician, father of four and lifelong snow-day embracer. 鈥楢s soon as you woke up, you knew because it was quiet outside. ,鈥 he remembered. 鈥楾hese people are joyless bureaucrats. And you can quote me on that!鈥欌
AFT Influence on CDC Regulations: “Powerful teachers union influenced CDC on school reopenings, emails show,” via :
- “The close communication between the union and the feds came despite repeated assurances from CDC and Biden officials that the medical guidelines would 鈥榝ollow the science鈥 and be free of political interference.”
- A CDC spokesperson 鈥渟aid the agency had worked with a number of other non-governmental parties that would be affected by the guidance and provided them draft copies 鈥 including the National Education Association, National Association of School Nurses and National Association of State Boards of Education.鈥
- American Federation of Teachers President
- The White House : “It鈥檚 actually longstanding best practice for the CDC to engage with organizations, groups that are going to be impacted by guidance and recommendations issued by the agency,” press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. “It doesn’t mean they are taking everything they want, or even a percentage of what they want.”
- Wall Street Journal editorial board: ““
- More from Mike Antonucci via 麻豆精品: Has Teachers Union Pressure on CDC Turned the Government鈥檚 Best Scientific Guidelines into a Bargaining Chip?
City & State News
California: Students in wealthier schools
- “EdSource found that two-thirds of students in district schools with the largest proportions of low-income families were in distance learning, compared with only 43% of students in schools with the fewest low-income families 鈥 a disparity that may partly explain a widening learning gap between wealthy and poor students that researchers and teachers suspect the pandemic has enlarged.”
- 鈥淥nly 13% of public school students and 12% of charter school students have resumed a normal five-day-a-week school schedule.鈥
Connecticut: Via Politico
Colorado: is developing a plan for remote learning during the 2021-21 school year and beyond.
Illinois: ‘‘ and school shot events are among ideas for getting more Chicago students and their families inoculated
Tennessee: State department of education selects
Federal Policy
Federal Communications Commission: that eligible households can begin applying for the on May 12.
- Households can apply in two ways:
-
- Contact their directly to learn about the application process.
- Go to to apply online.
- Materials are . .
Closing the Homework Gap via the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program: The FCC released an for how it would allocate the $7 billion provided under the American Rescue Plan to close the homework gap. Top takeaways:
- $400 per device and $250 per hotspot. Waivers can be requested for students with special needs who may need more expensive machines. Smartphones are not eligible.
- Devices and connectivity are primarily for educational uses, but the FCC acknowledges that they may also support other family needs and uses.
- The plan prioritizes reimbursing schools that have already purchased devices and connectivity. Only then, if funds are remaining, will the agency open a second application window.
- July 1 will likely be the starting date for applications.
Tool to Support ESSER Strategy: designed to help systems set goals and strategies, prioritize initiatives, identify partners and plan for spending Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) and other funds. The tool provides:
- An overview of ESSER I, II and III funds;
- A planning framework to help leaders prepare, prioritize, organize and monitor;
- Input tabs for district-specific information about funding sources and amounts, goals and strategies, partnerships and initiatives; and
- Self-populating dashboards mapping priorities to funding decisions.
Covid-19 Research
聽COVID-19 Infections Among Students and Staff in New York City Public Schools: .
- Analyzed data on 234,132 people tested for COVID-19 at 1,594 New York City public schools from Oct. 9 to Dec. 18.
- Only 0.4% were positive for COVID; prevalence was similar to or lower than that in the surrounding community for all weeks studied.
- “We found that in-person learning in NYC public schools was not associated with increased prevalence or incidence overall of COVID-19 infection compared with the general community.”
Moderna: against the original virus as well as B.1.351 (South African variant) and P.1. (Brazil variant)
Pfizer: against severe disease caused by the coronavirus, including B.1.351 (South African variant) and B.1.1.7 (U.K. variant). .
Vaccine Hesitancy: from a great webinar from Echelon Insights on vaccine hesitancy and messages that persuade skeptics.
American Academy of Pediatrics: as of April 29
- 3,782,724 total child COVID-19 cases were reported, and children represented 13.8% of all cases
- Children were 1.2% to 3.1% of total reported hospitalizations, and between 0.1% and 1.9% of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization.
- Children were 0.00% to 0.21% of all COVID-19 deaths.
Viewpoints
How Schools Can Spend $130 Billion Responsibly:
- Schools 鈥渘eed to figure out just how their students have been affected by the pandemic, in terms of academic progress and social and emotional well-being.”
- “School districts also need to support high-quality summer options.”
- “There鈥檚 also an opportunity to use the next two years to start rethinking the teaching profession.”
The Education Data That Matter Most to Parents and School Stakeholders: New explains what parents, teachers and leaders want to know about schools and students.
Social-Emotional Learning: , via Fordham Institute
The Liberals Who Can鈥檛 Quit Lockdown: “Even as scientific knowledge of COVID-19 has increased, some progressives have continued to embrace policies and behaviors that aren鈥檛 supported by evidence, such as banning access to playgrounds, closing beaches and refusing to reopen schools for in-person learning,”
How the Pandemic Could Personalize Education: Via
The Pandemic鈥檚 Remote Learning Legacy 鈥斅燗 Lot Worth Keeping: Via 麻豆精品
…And on a Lighter Note
It’s May: Hope you get to .
ICYMI @The74
Weekend Reads: In case you missed them, our top five stories of the week:
- Teacher Appreciation: 鈥楽he Made Me Feel Like I Wasn鈥檛 Entirely Alone鈥: 10 Students and Families Pay Tribute to the Teachers Who Helped Them Endure the Pandemic (Read more)
- Early Childhood: As Early Ed Teachers Prepare for Fall, New Study Backs Efforts to Support Young Children鈥檚 Mental Health (Read more)
- Research: Schools that Switched to a Four-Day Week Saw Learning Reductions. What Does that Mean for the Pandemic鈥檚 Lost Instructional Time? (Read more)
- Teaching: Four Finalists for Teacher of the Year Answer the Question: What鈥檚 it Like to Lead Classes During the 鈥榃orst Year Ever鈥? (Read more)
- Commentary: Petrilli: Biden Wants Free Community College 鈥 But Also Better High School-to-Career Pathways. Is He on to Something? (Read more)
Did you use this article in your work?
We鈥檇 love to hear how 麻豆精品鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.