Case Study 4 - Covid Testing
With the onslaught of the Covid 19 pandemic came nationwide school closures and the transition to fully virtual learning for all K-12 schools. By the Fall of 2020, some districts and private schools were able to offer in person or “hybrid” learning opportunities. At the same time, most urban districts were unsuccessful in re-opening schools for in person learning. Before the resurgence of the “second wave” of the virus in late 2020-early 2021, learning loss was expected to be a large problem for a majority of K-12 students who were continuing to learn in a remote environment. In fact, in a study published by Brown University estimated that “students are likely to return in fall 2020 with approximately 63-68% of the learning gains in reading relative to a typical school year and with 37-50% of the learning gains in math. However... the top third of students potentially making gains in reading.”
The disparity between the resources available for students from district to district and household to household tends to disproportionately impact students of color. According to a 2015 Pew Research study, “Roughly one-third of households with children ages 6 to 17 and whose annual income falls below $30,000 a year do not have a high-speed internet connection at home, compared with just 6% of such households earning $75,000 or more a year. These broadband disparities are particularly pronounced for black and Hispanic households with school-age children – especially those with low household incomes.” Without a stable internet connection at home and a lack of resources and support, students are struggling to keep up with learning. The more surprising impact, tangential to learning and school environment woes, pertains to the effects virtual learning has had on students' mental health. Studies are still being conducted and analyzed, but initial reports are coming in revolving around the negative impact the lack of in school support and social interaction is having on students.
To help combat these mounting problems felt by students across the state of Massachusetts, The Shah Family Foundation began to take a special interest in finding ways in which public schools could safely and effectively bring students back to in person learning as soon as possible. After conducting weeks of extensive research and speaking with several epidemiologists, medical experts, industry professionals, and school leaders - we built up a robust knowledge base and developed a strategy playbook. We concluded that, along with proper social distancing and hygiene protocols, schools can successfully implement a safe and effective pooled testing program in order to bring students back.
Pooling samples involves mixing several samples together in a "batch" or pooled sample, then testing the pooled sample with a diagnostic test. Here’s how it works: Say a lab has nasal swab samples from 10 people. The lab will mix all 10 samples together, creating a pool. Next, one diagnostic test will be run on that pooled sample, instead of 10 diagnostic tests on 10 samples. If the pooled sample is negative, it means that all 10 patients are negative. If the pooled sample comes back positive, then each person needs to be tested individually to find out who is positive. Pooled testing is generally much more affordable than individual testing. Because samples are pooled together, fewer tests are run overall, and fewer testing supplies are used.
With our playbook and extensive knowledge base in hand, we began to work on connecting public and private partners together to help facilitate conversations and work towards a solution. First, we presented our findings and overall strategy, including projected costs and logistics, with the Massachusetts Department of Secondary Education (DESE) Commissioner's team. Following this, DESE was on board to begin strategizing what it would take to successfully implement statewide. We also partnered directly with the Massachusetts department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to drive these initiatives forward through inter department collaboration. Due to the constantly changing environment, we continued to grow our knowledge base and apply new learnings to our playbook while connecting private partners with DESE to ensure implementation of the best possible solution.
On January, 8th of 2021 - the Governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker, announced the launch of a weekly pooled testing pilot for schools statewide. The strategy specified that under a statewide contract, districts and schools will work with a testing service provider who will manage the logistics (e.g., delivery of tests to schools, operations hardware, and coordination with the testing lab), and provide training for schools and districts, software associated with pooled testing, and technical assistance/customer support to district/school personnel. DESE will assume the costs of the testing service provider and other materials associated with pooled testing for the first 6 weeks of the program or until March, 28th 2021. Following March 28th, 2021, districts and schools may use their federal stimulus funding to continue the program. In most cases, districts and schools will use existing staff resources to administer the tests and to manage onsite logistics.
As a result of the public-private partnerships facilitated by the Shah Family Foundation, Massachusetts is the first state in the United States to begin implementing a statewide weekly pooled surveillance testing solution for K-12 students. To date, DESE is in the beginning phases of implementing the aforementioned program in schools across the state. Throughout this program, we will learn more on how to best implement pooled testing in schools and what can be improved with the future expansion of the program. The end goal is to get this project to a point where it can run sustainably by fully utilizing federal stimulus funding and bring students back into in person learning safely and effectively.
For more the most up to date information and recent program progress, please check out our testing resource website for schools and districts across Massachusetts at covidedtesting.com.
Sources: