 District of Columbia. COVID-19 incidence was highest in persons aged 20–29 years, who likely contribute to community transmission of COVID-19. The CDC advises that strict adherence to community mitigation strategies and personal preventive behaviors by younger adults is needed to help reduce infection and subsequent transmission to persons at higher risk for severe illness.
K-12 Schools and Childcare Programs FAQs for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents: Presents official guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] in concise FAQ format, including hyperlinks to primary source documents that elaborate on specific actions and activities. The FAQs are written to consider a range of differential community scenarios (i.e. conditions of no community transmission, of minimal to moderate community transmission, and substantial community transmission).
Schools and Child Care Programs: Provides guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] for how schools, summer camps, and youth recreational sport institutions can plan, prepare, and respond to COVID-19. Given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, CDC has updated the guidance (10/18/21). CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with layered prevention strategies in place.
Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools: Provides guidance (updated 10/22/21) for individuals who oversee the daily operations of public and private childcare programs and K-12 schools, at both the school/facility and district level. The guidance can help programs, schools and their partners understand how to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19; to respond quickly should a case be identified; and to plan for the continuity of teaching and learning if there is community spread of COVID-19.
See especially, Families and Children (updated 8/2/21).
Update on the IES (Institute of Education Sciences) Use of ARP Funds: Provides an update (8/31/21) by IES director Mark Schneider on how ED’s IES is using $100-million appropriated through the American Rescue Plan [ARP] to invest in research grants, gather data through the School Pulse, and make sure the information IES generates about accelerating learning is translated into forms that are useful, usable, and used.
The Road to Learning Recovery: Announces appropriation of $100-million in American Rescue Plan [ARP] to conduct research related to learning losses caused by COVID-19. The Institute of Education Sciences [IES] at the US Department of Education was ordered by President Biden (March 2021) to administer surveys to identify school and instructional changes in response to the pandemic, identify and disseminate effective practices; invest in innovative approaches (e.g. artificial intelligence) to deal with learning loss and close longstanding achievement gaps; and focus certain investments on particularly hard-hit student populations (e.g. students in special education, in foster care, and students who are homeless).
U.S. Department of Education Launches Best Practices Clearinghouse to Highlight Innovative Practices for Reopening Schools and Campuses (4/30/21): Announces the U.S. Department of Education (ED) launch of the Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse, a website that highlights the innovative work underway nationwide in continuing to reopen K-12 schools, early childhood centers and postsecondary institutions. Through the Clearinghouse, the Department is providing examples of how schools and other educational institutions can safely reopen as communities continue recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Department of Education Announces American Rescue Plan Funds for All 50 States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia to Help Schools Reopen (3/31/21): Announced the amount of American Recovery Plan [ARP] Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief [ESSER] funding that each State, Puerto Rico, and the Dist