Government
High school grades matter for post-secondary study, but is pandemic assessment fair?
COVID-19 has challenged teachers’ abilities to provide students with chances to learn and to report on student learning.
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As COVID-19 restrictions recede across much of the world, students have navigated changes in modes of learning (from virtual to in-person) and social protocols (for example, no masks).
Even as societies gradually return to normal, we are constantly reminded that COVID-19 is still very much in our communities. Regions are no longer reporting publicly on COVID-19 cases, but in schools, the continued circulation of the virus still means the possibility of ongoing extended absences for both teachers and students.
In response to pandemic schooling challenges, schools and school boards have implemented policies to minimize the negative impact of COVID-19 on students’ grades. Some have frozen students’ grades based on windows of uninterrupted learning, or made exams optional.
Yet the inconsistencies in these policies has undoubtedly led to challenges in terms of equity and fairness. Some high school students have voiced concerns about how their post-secondary choices could be affected as a result. University students have also raised issues about the fairness of grades.
The learning and assessment connection
A key priority in education is to provide children and youth with the opportunity to learn and to demonstrate that learning. As researchers who explore the role of assessment, student outcomes and education policy, we know that assessment matters not only to monitor students’ ongoing progress, but also to report on that progress and inform future instructional and educational decisions.
COVID-19 has been a reminder of the important factors that are beyond students’ control that influence achievement. It has put disparities between disadvantaged students and their more affluent peers into sharper focus: for example, educators have witnessed the learning barriers and inequities some students have faced due to differences in internet connectivity or supportive home learning environments.
Read more: Student achievement depends on reducing poverty now and after COVID-19
Given these challenges, educators have sought alternate ways to provide students with opportunities to learn and to fairly report on that learning.
Despite these efforts, researchers project that COVID-19 has resulted in lower levels of learning in math and literacy in grade school students. If these trends are accurate, similar concerns could be valid for senior secondary school students.
Grade inflation?
It’s also likely that shifts in grading and reporting practices have led to significant grade inflation. Some anecdotal evidence from teachers we’ve talked to suggests students’ grade distributions have shifted, with increases in both higher and lower grades, and fewer “average” grades in the middle. This could be one sign of inequities exacerbated by the pandemic related to lost hours at school and with teachers.
Mainstream western education systems are largely driven by grading systems. Students use grades to determine if they have the skills and abilities to predict the likelihood of success in subsequent years. They use grades to direct their future education choices, and teachers are aware of this.
Rightly or wrongly, secondary school students are caught in a competitive learning environment. Letter grades and percentages are most commonly used to report student achievement in ways that significantly impact their futures.
The pass/fail alternative
Teachers have continually wrestled with the negative impacts of grades, wanting students to focus on learning rather than being consumed with attaining marks. Long before the pandemic, education researchers have criticized commonly used methods of grading that can entrench a competitive focus and negatively impact students’ learning.
One approach to address the inconsistencies in students’ grades during the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic has been to shift to pass/fail grading. This approach has been most commonly seen in some university programs which already had a history of pass/fail grading.
Studies show that pass/fail grading is fair and can help students and teachers focus on learning. Concerns that pass/fail grading leads to less student effort can be resolved through clearer learning expectations for achievement, and by creating a learning environment where each student is able to succeed.
Since the start of the pandemic, pass/fail grading has increased with prominent examples in both the United States and Canada.
The University of Alberta, for example, moved to a credit/no-credit system where no grades were assigned for courses in winter 2020. Brock University presented students with options to choose between a letter-based or numeric grade; a designation of “credit during disruption” or “no credit during disruption;” or a “withdrawal during disruption” without academic penalty.
Pass/fail university admissions?
There has also been a recognition of pass/fail grades for university and college admissions, especially in the United States where high-stakes examinations, secondary grades or a combination have long been the primary methods to determine university entrance. Some school districts have shifted to optional pass/fail grades, and some post-secondary institutions have started to recognize pass/fail grades for admissions purposes.
What would a shift to pass/fail grading mean for university admission? It would require using other forms of information such as personal statements, reference letters and for students to demonstrate critical thinking and communication skills.
Even before the pandemic, such practices were used alongside grades for admissions. They do require additional effort by students, and by those in charge of post-secondary admissions. Nevertheless, given that more than half of Canada’s universities had graduation rates below 75 per cent prior to the pandemic, the previous reliance on secondary school grades could hardly be considered foolproof.
After the pandemic
It is unlikely classrooms will look the same after this pandemic. COVID-19 has required students to take greater ownership of their learning, and both students and parents have expressed becoming more attuned to children’s learning needs.
At the same time, teachers have had to more clearly articulate what students need to accomplish to demonstrate their learning.
It’s possible that COVID-19 has created an opportunity to revise our focus on student grading and reporting, to ensure our educational systems can better focus on learning and help students’ identify the learning expectations they have, and those they still need to develop.
Don A. Klinger has previously received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council in Canada. Currently he serves as an advisor to the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) in Ontario, and as a technical advisor to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and to the New Zealand Quality Assurance (NZQA).
Corrie has previously received funding from, Kentucky Teacher Intern Program Grant, Commonwealth of Kentucky ($411,446), Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant ($411,446), Teacher Education Model Programs Grant from Kentucky ($714,000), Kentucky Center for Economics Education, and Teaching with Primary Resources from the Library of Congress USA. And is affiliated with the Consortium for Research on Educational Assessment and Teaching Effectiveness, the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation and the Pegasus Institute.
Louis Volante receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
congress pandemic covid-19 canada ontario alberta
Government
Low Iron Levels In Blood Could Trigger Long COVID: Study
Low Iron Levels In Blood Could Trigger Long COVID: Study
Authored by Amie Dahnke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
People with inadequate…
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Authored by Amie Dahnke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
People with inadequate iron levels in their blood due to a COVID-19 infection could be at greater risk of long COVID.
A new study indicates that problems with iron levels in the bloodstream likely trigger chronic inflammation and other conditions associated with the post-COVID phenomenon. The findings, published on March 1 in Nature Immunology, could offer new ways to treat or prevent the condition.
Long COVID Patients Have Low Iron Levels
Researchers at the University of Cambridge pinpointed low iron as a potential link to long-COVID symptoms thanks to a study they initiated shortly after the start of the pandemic. They recruited people who tested positive for the virus to provide blood samples for analysis over a year, which allowed the researchers to look for post-infection changes in the blood. The researchers looked at 214 samples and found that 45 percent of patients reported symptoms of long COVID that lasted between three and 10 months.
In analyzing the blood samples, the research team noticed that people experiencing long COVID had low iron levels, contributing to anemia and low red blood cell production, just two weeks after they were diagnosed with COVID-19. This was true for patients regardless of age, sex, or the initial severity of their infection.
According to one of the study co-authors, the removal of iron from the bloodstream is a natural process and defense mechanism of the body.
But it can jeopardize a person’s recovery.
“When the body has an infection, it responds by removing iron from the bloodstream. This protects us from potentially lethal bacteria that capture the iron in the bloodstream and grow rapidly. It’s an evolutionary response that redistributes iron in the body, and the blood plasma becomes an iron desert,” University of Oxford professor Hal Drakesmith said in a press release. “However, if this goes on for a long time, there is less iron for red blood cells, so oxygen is transported less efficiently affecting metabolism and energy production, and for white blood cells, which need iron to work properly. The protective mechanism ends up becoming a problem.”
The research team believes that consistently low iron levels could explain why individuals with long COVID continue to experience fatigue and difficulty exercising. As such, the researchers suggested iron supplementation to help regulate and prevent the often debilitating symptoms associated with long COVID.
“It isn’t necessarily the case that individuals don’t have enough iron in their body, it’s just that it’s trapped in the wrong place,” Aimee Hanson, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge who worked on the study, said in the press release. “What we need is a way to remobilize the iron and pull it back into the bloodstream, where it becomes more useful to the red blood cells.”
The research team pointed out that iron supplementation isn’t always straightforward. Achieving the right level of iron varies from person to person. Too much iron can cause stomach issues, ranging from constipation, nausea, and abdominal pain to gastritis and gastric lesions.
1 in 5 Still Affected by Long COVID
COVID-19 has affected nearly 40 percent of Americans, with one in five of those still suffering from symptoms of long COVID, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Long COVID is marked by health issues that continue at least four weeks after an individual was initially diagnosed with COVID-19. Symptoms can last for days, weeks, months, or years and may include fatigue, cough or chest pain, headache, brain fog, depression or anxiety, digestive issues, and joint or muscle pain.
Government
Walmart joins Costco in sharing key pricing news
The massive retailers have both shared information that some retailers keep very close to the vest.
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As we head toward a presidential election, the presumed candidates for both parties will look for issues that rally undecided voters.
The economy will be a key issue, with Democrats pointing to job creation and lowering prices while Republicans will cite the layoffs at Big Tech companies, high housing prices, and of course, sticky inflation.
The covid pandemic created a perfect storm for inflation and higher prices. It became harder to get many items because people getting sick slowed down, or even stopped, production at some factories.
Related: Popular mall retailer shuts down abruptly after bankruptcy filing
It was also a period where demand increased while shipping, trucking and delivery systems were all strained or thrown out of whack. The combination led to product shortages and higher prices.
You might have gone to the grocery store and not been able to buy your favorite paper towel brand or find toilet paper at all. That happened partly because of the supply chain and partly due to increased demand, but at the end of the day, it led to higher prices, which some consumers blamed on President Joe Biden's administration.
Biden, of course, was blamed for the price increases, but as inflation has dropped and grocery prices have fallen, few companies have been up front about it. That's probably not a political choice in most cases. Instead, some companies have chosen to lower prices more slowly than they raised them.
However, two major retailers, Walmart (WMT) and Costco, have been very honest about inflation. Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon's most recent comments validate what Biden's administration has been saying about the state of the economy. And they contrast with the economic picture being painted by Republicans who support their presumptive nominee, Donald Trump.
Image source: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Walmart sees lower prices
McMillon does not talk about lower prices to make a political statement. He's communicating with customers and potential customers through the analysts who cover the company's quarterly-earnings calls.
During Walmart's fiscal-fourth-quarter-earnings call, McMillon was clear that prices are going down.
"I'm excited about the omnichannel net promoter score trends the team is driving. Across countries, we continue to see a customer that's resilient but looking for value. As always, we're working hard to deliver that for them, including through our rollbacks on food pricing in Walmart U.S. Those were up significantly in Q4 versus last year, following a big increase in Q3," he said.
He was specific about where the chain has seen prices go down.
"Our general merchandise prices are lower than a year ago and even two years ago in some categories, which means our customers are finding value in areas like apparel and hard lines," he said. "In food, prices are lower than a year ago in places like eggs, apples, and deli snacks, but higher in other places like asparagus and blackberries."
McMillon said that in other areas prices were still up but have been falling.
"Dry grocery and consumables categories like paper goods and cleaning supplies are up mid-single digits versus last year and high teens versus two years ago. Private-brand penetration is up in many of the countries where we operate, including the United States," he said.
Costco sees almost no inflation impact
McMillon avoided the word inflation in his comments. Costco (COST) Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti, who steps down on March 15, has been very transparent on the topic.
The CFO commented on inflation during his company's fiscal-first-quarter-earnings call.
"Most recently, in the last fourth-quarter discussion, we had estimated that year-over-year inflation was in the 1% to 2% range. Our estimate for the quarter just ended, that inflation was in the 0% to 1% range," he said.
Galanti made clear that inflation (and even deflation) varied by category.
"A bigger deflation in some big and bulky items like furniture sets due to lower freight costs year over year, as well as on things like domestics, bulky lower-priced items, again, where the freight cost is significant. Some deflationary items were as much as 20% to 30% and, again, mostly freight-related," he added.
bankruptcy pandemic trumpGovernment
Walmart has really good news for shoppers (and Joe Biden)
The giant retailer joins Costco in making a statement that has political overtones, even if that’s not the intent.
Share this:
As we head toward a presidential election, the presumed candidates for both parties will look for issues that rally undecided voters.
The economy will be a key issue, with Democrats pointing to job creation and lowering prices while Republicans will cite the layoffs at Big Tech companies, high housing prices, and of course, sticky inflation.
The covid pandemic created a perfect storm for inflation and higher prices. It became harder to get many items because people getting sick slowed down, or even stopped, production at some factories.
Related: Popular mall retailer shuts down abruptly after bankruptcy filing
It was also a period where demand increased while shipping, trucking and delivery systems were all strained or thrown out of whack. The combination led to product shortages and higher prices.
You might have gone to the grocery store and not been able to buy your favorite paper towel brand or find toilet paper at all. That happened partly because of the supply chain and partly due to increased demand, but at the end of the day, it led to higher prices, which some consumers blamed on President Joe Biden's administration.
Biden, of course, was blamed for the price increases, but as inflation has dropped and grocery prices have fallen, few companies have been up front about it. That's probably not a political choice in most cases. Instead, some companies have chosen to lower prices more slowly than they raised them.
However, two major retailers, Walmart (WMT) and Costco, have been very honest about inflation. Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon's most recent comments validate what Biden's administration has been saying about the state of the economy. And they contrast with the economic picture being painted by Republicans who support their presumptive nominee, Donald Trump.
Image source: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Walmart sees lower prices
McMillon does not talk about lower prices to make a political statement. He's communicating with customers and potential customers through the analysts who cover the company's quarterly-earnings calls.
During Walmart's fiscal-fourth-quarter-earnings call, McMillon was clear that prices are going down.
"I'm excited about the omnichannel net promoter score trends the team is driving. Across countries, we continue to see a customer that's resilient but looking for value. As always, we're working hard to deliver that for them, including through our rollbacks on food pricing in Walmart U.S. Those were up significantly in Q4 versus last year, following a big increase in Q3," he said.
He was specific about where the chain has seen prices go down.
"Our general merchandise prices are lower than a year ago and even two years ago in some categories, which means our customers are finding value in areas like apparel and hard lines," he said. "In food, prices are lower than a year ago in places like eggs, apples, and deli snacks, but higher in other places like asparagus and blackberries."
McMillon said that in other areas prices were still up but have been falling.
"Dry grocery and consumables categories like paper goods and cleaning supplies are up mid-single digits versus last year and high teens versus two years ago. Private-brand penetration is up in many of the countries where we operate, including the United States," he said.
Costco sees almost no inflation impact
McMillon avoided the word inflation in his comments. Costco (COST) Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti, who steps down on March 15, has been very transparent on the topic.
The CFO commented on inflation during his company's fiscal-first-quarter-earnings call.
"Most recently, in the last fourth-quarter discussion, we had estimated that year-over-year inflation was in the 1% to 2% range. Our estimate for the quarter just ended, that inflation was in the 0% to 1% range," he said.
Galanti made clear that inflation (and even deflation) varied by category.
"A bigger deflation in some big and bulky items like furniture sets due to lower freight costs year over year, as well as on things like domestics, bulky lower-priced items, again, where the freight cost is significant. Some deflationary items were as much as 20% to 30% and, again, mostly freight-related," he added.
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