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This is our biweekly briefing on the pandemic, vetted by John Bailey. .

This Week鈥檚 Top Story

• : “This study extends research evidence to additional student outcomes 鈥� absences, course grades and grade retention 鈥� 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.”

Top Three

• “Scent-trained dogs detected COVID-19 infection with 83% sensitivity and 90% specificity in nearly 3,900 screenings at California K-12 schools in spring 2022, according to a .” More via .
• ” 鈥榃hile modifications are needed before widespread implementation, and could be used for other pathogens,鈥� [researchers] concluded.”

• : 鈥淸Last week] in Pediatrics the safety data of the Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT-162b2) COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents ages 12 to 17 years. After one year, very few serious adverse events were reported, and instances of myocarditis (inflammation of heart muscle) were lower than initially reported.鈥�
• “The authors conclude that the vaccine is safe for this age group, noting that the risk of cardiac disease after COVID-19 infection may be two- to sixfold higher than after vaccination.”

• : “AASA, The School Superintendents Association, and The Jed Foundation this week announced the initiative, called , 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鈥� mental health and prevent suicide.”
• “The organization鈥檚 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.”
• Related: Despite 鈥榗risis,鈥� states and districts slow to spend $1B in mental health funds

Federal Updates

White House: . A potential replacement could be senior adviser Neera Tanden.

Education Department: .

Institute of Education Sciences: Director Mark Schneider shares his priorities.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: . .

City & State News

California: than before pandemic.

Michigan: as COVID funding comes to an end.

New York: “Enrollment in New York City’s public schools, the country’s largest school district, , according to a fiscal watchdog funded by the city.”

North Carolina: “A of North Carolina test results from the 2021-22 school year shows that students made significant strides from the previous year in recovering instructional time lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Ohio: .

COVID-19 Research

• 鈥淎 of U.S. counties suggests that communities with schools that switched from remote to in-person instruction in fall 2020 four to eight weeks later than those that remained virtual.鈥�
• “The magnitude of school contribution to community transmission found in this study must be interpreted in the context of the potential benefits of in-person instruction models on the academic, social, mental health and physical outcomes of many students.” 
• “The implications for future public health preparedness include consideration of the relatively small and manageable magnitude of school contribution to community transmission that may present a tolerable risk for the resumption of in-person education, with sufficient mitigation measures.”

• 鈥淏ased on the , the [World Health Organization] on April 20 said it elevated XBB.1.16 from a variant under monitoring to a variant of interest.鈥�
• “. XBB.1.16 doesn’t seem to come with additional health risks compared to XBB.1.5, but it may become dominant in some countries owing to its growth advantage and immune escape properties.”

In-Depth

• : “Thirteen of the nation鈥檚 20 largest districts have added teletherapy since the pandemic began.”
• 鈥� 鈥業t鈥檚 not for everybody, but for those students and parents who want that, it鈥檚 been fantastic,鈥� said JaMaiia Bond, who oversees student mental health services for Compton鈥檚 schools in California, which started offering teletherapy through Hazel Health this school year.”

• : “The movement, under the banner of 鈥榯he science of reading,鈥� is targeting the education establishment: school districts, literacy gurus, publishers and colleges of education, which critics say have failed to embrace the cognitive science of how children learn to read.”
• “Ohio, California and Georgia are the latest states to push for reform, adding to almost 20 states that have made moves in the last two years. Under pressure, school districts are scrapping their old reading programs.”

Bill Gates Talks Learning Recovery, AI and His Big Bet on Math

• Via 蜜桃影视: 鈥淭here is a gigantic upside in improving our public education system, both economically and in terms of equity,鈥� Gates said. 鈥淏ut the country鈥檚 not falling apart as much as you might think.鈥�
• “The shortcomings of the U.S. education system are clear in terms of the inequity you end up with: the kind of jobs, salaries, mobility you鈥檇 like to see in society. Education is the great enabler of mobility, and we鈥檙e falling short on that.鈥�
• 鈥淚 think the predictions that this is going to hurt us in the long run are true, and we鈥檇 be further ahead if we were running our education system as well as we鈥檇 like to.”

…And on a Lighter Note

鈿� She Literally Did a Cartwheel: .

This little girl must be protected at all costs. She is the future. 馃槶馃槶馃槶

— Charlotte Clymer 馃嚭馃嚘 (@cmclymer)

For even more COVID policy and education news, .

Disclosure: John Bailey is an adviser to the Walton Family Foundation, which provides financial support to 蜜桃影视.

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