Need to know: COVID-19
- As of Friday, October 9, there were 227,431 confirmed cases. See cases by county here.
- The share of positive tests as a percentage of total tests is 5.7%.
For your consideration
MIT researchers conducted a randomized control trial to study the impact of merit aid awards to low-income, minority, and first-generation college households in Nebraska. From 2012 to 2016, the researchers worked with the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation in Nebraska to award 4,000 scholarships via random assignment.
They find that these awards increase bachelor’s degree completion for students targeting four-year schools by about eight points. Interestingly, they do not find the same effects on students targeting community colleges.
See this policy brief for a condensed version of the findings or explore the full paper here.
Contextual healing
North Carolina did not score so well in a new analysis of health and wellbeing outcomes for children and families from the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center out of the University of Texas at Austin. Out of 20 indicators, including things like food insecurity, parenting stress, child poverty, and lack of health insurance, North Carolina scores below the median for all 50 states in 12 of the 20 indicators.
The Center produced policy roadmaps for each state that outline the policies and strategies the state should take to improve child and family wellbeing. Here is the roadmap for North Carolina.
Need to know
Check out the featured read below to see a new database from EdNC and Public Impact documenting the fall reopening plans for all 115 North Carolina school districts. The database includes details on instruction, attendance policies, school nutrition, and digital access. Let us know what you think by replying to this email or emailing me at [email protected].
What we're reading
Tracking fall reopening plans for all North Carolina districts: New database from EdNC and Public Impact
EdNC and Public Impact teamed up once again to track how schools are responding to the pandemic this school year. The NC Districts Fall 2020 Reopening Database documents some details of all 115 districts’ reopening plans. ... Read the rest-
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Science's Diversity Problem
