@TheVulcan
It’s California…they’ve been moving in that direction for years, and many schools across the country have already gone test optional. I, for one, would be completely fine with abolishing standardized testing. But the money within the standardized testing economy is substantial. Will be interesting to see how things shake out.
Kenyon updated their plan yesterday. They originally (a few weeks or a month ago?) said they were bringing all students back. Given recent developments, they’re now bringing freshmen and sophomores to campus in the fall. Of course they hope to bring everyone back in the spring but will prioritize bringing juniors and seniors back for second semester. It seems like a more reasonable plan, given that there is no off-campus housing anywhere near Gambier. They are also giving a one-time, 10% tuition credit.
I’m guessing whatever these schools do, they tick off at least half the people!
@homerdog – I wonder if the calculation goes beyond lost R&B revenue to tuition revenue, or have we passed the deadline for requesting a leave at most schools?
The travel, quarantine and testing rules are so involved that I will not be surprised if we see more schools make the same decision, or at least those that can afford to do so.
what is the cost of testing for COVID in college? Let us say it cost $100 per kid per week. 400 in a month times 8 months so $3200, for 6 thousands leads to a kool $19.2 M. Plus PPE and cleaning cost, and food needs to be packed and delivered, so dining hall cost will increase too. Now you need to clean libraries, dorms, etc. These cost quickly adds up. And then when you add old professors and making sure that they do not fall sick. You add those costs. WOW…
With the state of testing right now there is no way any college is going to be doing this aggressive testing that they keep aspiring to. Results that take too long, shortages of testing equipment, etc. None of this is realistic unless major changes are made in the next month. Somehow I’m not betting on that happening, IYKWIM.
If they do not test kids, law suits may be on the way if someone gets sick. God Forbid something bad happens, parents may go for litigations.
What should schools that find that standardized tests have predictive value for them use once they are abolished?
I believe this question is related to the thread topic, as we are staring down the test-optional reality for the HS class of 2021, and probably at least for the immediately foreseeable future (and I am using the words “foreseeable future” very loosely here).
@kbm770 but I will say I have great respect for the schools freezing tuition or giving a discount. That would ease my discontent!
@Luckyjade2024 ,If I were a college admissions person, I would admit you on the spot for that comment! So many young people (even LGBTQ ones) have no idea what it was like then, and how the stigma made everything so much harder for those with the virus. It sounds terrible in a way, but I lost so many people that I cared about back then (many of whom had been rejected by their own families) that I have thought, “At least Covid-19 is an equal-opportunity virus, so that it’s more likely that people will work harder to eradicate it soon!” It’s a sad comment on human nature, but I think it’s true.
Anyway, your thoughtfulness and insight has brightened my day. All my best to you through this temporary setback and the dreams you want to pursue.
[/quote]
My mother talks the same as you do about those days…even the idea of this being an “equal opportunity” virus now. Can you imagine the lives that would have been saved with this all hands on deck approach back then? Instead most suffered in silence and shame. Luckily we came a long way since then.
This is also why I think this vaccine will be produced at record speed and urgency.
Ps…Thanks for your well wishes.
I have been wondering this, too. No state is going to allow a disproportionate amount of testing resources to go to colleges/universities if that move would shortchange the rest of the population, I hope.
Dickinson College announced that they were reversing their plans to bring all students back to campus this fall. The long and the short of it is that the company they are contracting with for testing told them that the waiting time for results was going to be 7 days and likely to increase in the future.
Along with that problem, the current trend for increasing infections in parts of the country worried them. Feel bad for the students who were excited to be coming back and now can not. They will have a very limited number of international students and students working on special projects on campus, but the campus is closed to the general public.
https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20043/about/4030/dickinson_college_updates_on_fall_2020/5
Yep, but no kid will be allowed on campus without signing a waiver. I just have to assume that. Even if the waivers might not hold water in court. They will know the risks involved. I am surprised that my patients still want to see me after they have to go through the forms we have. LOL…
Virginia is considering three options for HS sports:
Model 1 – Leave all sports in current season. Low and moderate contact risks sports that would be allowed to play are golf and cross country. High risk sports that would not be played are field hockey, football, volleyball, and cheer. Fall activities that would be allowed is theatre.
Model 2 – Switch Fall and Spring seasons. Low and moderate contact risk sports that would be allowed to play in the fall are track and field, tennis, soccer, baseball, and softball. High risk sports that would not be played are boys/girls lacrosse. Spring activities that would be allowed are theatre, forensics/debate, and film festival
Model 3 – Delay all VHSL sports and adopt the Condensed Interscholastic Plan. Leave all sports in the season where they are currently aligned.
Season 1 (Winter) December 14 – February 20 (First Contest Date – December 28)
Season 2 (Fall) February 15 – May 1 (First Contest Date – March 1)
Season 3 (Spring) April 12 – June 26 (First Contest Date – April 26)
Schools are also permitted to continue out-of-season activities.
Pool testing may help with lowering the cost associated with testing:
“The pool testing method combines samples from multiple people in order to carry out one test on the whole batch,” he says. “This means if the result is positive, it’s impossible to know which individual sample was responsible for it.” But if a pool gets a positive result, it can move to a second phase of testing, which breaks down the pool into smaller samples to identify the infected person or people.
“Think of it like the first call of ‘everyone in the pool’ and 30 jump in and then comes ‘adult swim only,’ and 25 come out. Those remaining five are then tested instead of all 30,” public health expert Carol A. Winner, MPH, public health expert and founder of the personal distancing Give Space movement, tells Health.
Pool testing has many advantages, Winner says. For starters, it can be more cost-effective and protect laboratories from becoming overburdened. It can also weed out large numbers of people who are not infected but who might otherwise have taken an individual test, and act as a sort of surveillance system for asymptomatic people. Pool testing also speeds up the testing process because it’s far less time-consuming than getting a sample from an individual and then putting it through all the necessary lab processes.
“Pooling would give us the capacity to go from a half a million tests a day to potentially five million individuals tested per day,” Deborah Birx, MD, coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said during an American Society for Microbiology virtual conference this week, as reported by STAT News."
https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/what-is-pool-testing-covid-19
Our county school district just released K-12 plan. All kids K-12 will be divided up, half attending Mon-Tues and half Wed-Thur, virtual the other two days, Friday a kind of teacher in-service day. Still not enough distancing.
Our little private school is shooting for attendance all 5 days. We will see.
@socaldad2002 that makes sense. Thanks for posting it
TAMU (sorry Harvard, to stop talking about schools that will impact so very few)
“Approximately 15,000 test kits will be sent to system campuses each month. Each campus will set up a central location for the testing, which will consist of a simple, painless mouth swab. Testing could start as early as late this week”
I won’t especially hold my breath though. Note how they want the students to use their insured services over this option. Lets see how that translates into some kind of triage. Obviously 15000 tests is inadequate but this is Texas. Apparently "system campuses) means > 150K enrolled.
If you want kids to test, it has to be convenient and accessible.
[QUOTE=""]
Never has a vaccine been developed at this speed.<<<<<<
[/QUOTE]
Because there is no yet developed actual vaccine. Never could still be a long time out.
“produced immunity in all 45 subjects with high levels of immunity produced”
Proven immunity to disease? Can cite that part for me??
My d’s college (Susquehanna, in PA) isn’t even offering testing!
“The university will require COVID-19 testing for all faculty, staff and students prior to returning to campus (arriving for new students). There may be a need for subsequent testing as appropriate.”
I think this may be the first school I’m aware of that has no plans for testing.
Elon has canceled its winter term study abroad program for 2021.
Elon University has canceled short-term global engagement programs that were scheduled for Winter Term 2021, a difficult decision that takes into account a variety of factors related to the global COVID-19 pandemic.