The effect of in-person primary and secondary school instruction on county-level SARS-CoV-2 spread in Indiana

Background: The effect of in person primary and secondary school instruction on the community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 remains unclear. Objective: To determine the county-level effect of in-person primary and secondary school reopening on daily cases of SARS-CoV-2 in Indiana. Design: Panel data regression analysis utilizing the proportion of in-person learning to evaluate an association with community-wide daily new SARS-CoV-2 cases. The study period was July 12-October 6, 2020. Setting: A county-level population-based study. Participants: We included 73 out of 92 (79.3%) Indiana Counties in the analysis, accounting for 85.7% of school corporations and 90.6% of student enrollement statewide. Main outcomes and measures: The primary exposure was the proportion of students returning to in-person instruction. The primary outcome was the daily new SARS-CoV-2 cases per 100,000 residents at the county level. Results: There is a statistically significant relationship between the proportion of students attending K-12 schools in-person and the county level daily cases of SARS-CoV-2 28 days later. For all ages, the coefficient of interest (β) is estimated at 3.36 (95% CI: 1.91-4.81; p < 0.001). This coefficient represents the effect of a change the proportion of students attending in-person on new daily cases 28 days later. For example, a 10 percentage point increase in K-12 students attending school in-person is associated with a daily increase in SARS-CoV-2 cases in the county equal to 0.336 cases/100,000 residents of all ages. Limitations: Single state study; inability to stratify school age effects by age; cannot account for non-linear growth effects. Conclusion and relevance: In-person primary and secondary school is associated with a statistically significant but proportionally small increase in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 cases.

Services publics — Pouvoir du tribunal d'arbitrage d'amender sa propre sentence

Summary A council of arbitration, appointed under the Act respecting Municipal and School Corporations and their Employees, which remained in office after rendering its award with power to hear any dispute arising as to its interpretation but whose authority has been limited by a clause in the agreement annexed to the award and reading as follows: Le Tribunal d'arbitrage n'aura pas juridiction pour rendre une décision incompatible avec les dispositions de cette convention, ni pour changer, modifier ou amender quelque partie que ce soit de cette convention. has the right to interpret its award and to correct a simple clerical error, but not to amend it. In the present instance, under the terms of the award, the employees of the same category as plaintiff were entitled to be paid at the rate of $1.29 per hour for time worked up to 44 hours a week, plus 50% for time worked in excess of 44 hours a week, the whole retroactive to a specified date. It cannot be said that it is only through a clerical error that the award was made retroactive not only as to the rate of pay but also as to the hours of work a week, even if it resulted in hardship for the employer. A tribunal cannot amend its decision any time that it finds that it acted without full information or complete realization of the effect of such dicision An arbitration award is not null because it was made retroactive for 13 months, contrary to the article 12 of the above-mentionned Act which limits the retroactivity to 12 months; but tis retroactivity should be reduced to that period. In amending its award as it did the council acted without jurisdiction and plaintiff was justified in taking action for the amount due to him under the award as originally made, but with the period of retroactivity shortened from 13 to 12 months.

Getting Ahead: Current Secondary and Postsecondary Acceleration Options for High-Ability Students in Indiana

Gifted education programs at the secondary level have yet to receive as much attention as those at the primary and elementary levels. The 2007 State of the States Report found that AP courses remain the most common means of addressing the needs of high-ability high school students. This study presents the current state of high-ability programming in Indiana high schools with special attention to dual-credit and IB programs. Survey data were collected on the policies and offerings of 87% of the state's school corporations. The data suggest that even though almost 90% of corporations offer dual-credit courses and 4% offer IB programs, AP courses remain the primary source of high school programming. The data also indicate that 70% of school corporations require students to exhibit high levels of performance in past coursework or on standardized tests to participate in these programs. Implications for such requirements are that they may prevent underachieving high-ability students from gaining access to the coursework from which they would benefit to be successful in an academic setting.

High Ability, Rural, and Poor: Lessons From Project Aspire and Implications for School Counselors

This article describes a grant-funded effort to improve the lives of academically able middle and high school students living in rural poverty. The program, Project Aspire, attempts to increase the number of these children in the most rigorous math and science coursework available in their schools. To that end, Project Aspire assists 14 school corporations by helping faculty in those settings increase the level of rigor of their courses and by offering Advanced Placement (AP) courses through multiple platforms of distance education technologies. A primary component of the project is the attempt to assist the school counselors’ work with their students, in hopes that the students’ lives will be improved. To prepare the counselors, ongoing training has been provided. This paper reports an analysis of the ideas and experiences shared during the lengthy training sessions with 21 school counselors. From the analysis and a literature review, the authors offer in three tables concise information for effectively working with high-ability middle and high school students living in rural poverty.

Promise for the Future Gifted Education in Rural Communities

In this article, the narrow, standardized criteria rural school corporations typically use to identify gifted and talented students are examined. The authors suggest that individual assessment be comprehensive and culturally specific. Particular procedures are recommended to assist in the identification of rural gifted children who are disadvantaged. Additionally, examples of appropriate curriculum intervention, specifically using the resources and talents of rural communities, are presented along with recommendations for using computer technology to link rural communities with other places and other people.

Improving Staff Development in Rural Communities Using Distance Education and Communication Technology

There are many challenges to universities and school corporations in offering quality staff development to teachers in rural communities. This article describes an innovative approach to staff development that uses distance education and computer-based audiographic communications technology. This approach enables rural schools to over come many of the challenges to staff development because it gives them the ability to link with outside experts, to share in the ownership of the training, to devise experiences that improve the on-the-job performance of the staff, and to increase overall collaboration among personnel.

Use of Distance Education and Audiographic Technology in Preparing Practicing Teachers in Rural Communities

Improving the skills of school personnel already teaching in rural communities will require that universities and other training agencies develop new approaches for structuring and delivering training experiences. The success of such activities will depend upon the ability of training institutions and school corporations to establish partnerships in carrying out staff development and devising models of training. Distance education and audiographic technology can give agencies flexibility in organizing and offering a wide range of training experiences adapted to the needs of rural school corporations.

Experience and Time Investment Factors in Public School Teacher Evaluation of Educational Microcomputer Software

Over 200 teachers were involved in evaluation of educational microcomputer software in a statewide project involving nine Indiana school corporations from 1983–85. Analysis of the completed evaluation forms through the use of the sign test and the Spearman rank order correlation helped to identify differences and similarities between groups of teachers based on factors of either experience with software prior to the evaluation, or the amount of time invested in the evaluation process. Conclusions indicate that formal evaluation processes in the public schools should include considerations of various factors which may influence the evaluator's final recommendation including prior experience with the instructional format, prior experience with a program similar to the one being evaluated, and allowances for time to fully examine the program being evaluated.