Senior leaders around the world are exhausted. Their leadership muscle is straining under the weight of the additional management jobs they’ve taken on, while also trying to run a school. One key to lessening that load is to make more use of the talent in middle and aspiring leaders. AAIE and NOTOSH are offering three leadership learning SPRINTS in February, March and early May, 2021.  (I:00PM GMT) 

 

Celebrating the contributions of your leadership team is to also ensure they are making sense of this past year and adding tools to their leadership toolbox.  Bring added leadership capacity to your team of school leaders.  

QUICK LINKS for Busy People

–THE REST OF THIS WEEK'S CONVERSATIONS–

with International School Leaders from Around the World

This week we continue to develop  our NEW SCHOOL ideas about the Community principle:

 

"We co-create caring, engaged, and inclusive communities clearly defined by a common learning language and a commitment to shared learning values.”

 

This week we'll start talking about how we best begin to implement this principle in our day-to-day school lives.  Please join us if you can at 8 am US EST this Friday.

Learning During the Pandemic

Student Learning Data from NWEA: 

The Good News About Reading and a Fresh Focus on Mathematics

–KEY FINDINGS–

A view on student growth from one year to the next: 

The Gainers, Maintainers and Sliders

The chart shows differences in growth patterns by examining whether students shifted up, down or stayed within the same achievement quintile over time.  You can see the total percentage of students within each grade level who moved up one quintile or more (GAINERS: GREEN), stayed in the same achievement quintile from school year to the next (MAINTAINERS: BLUE), or moved down one quintile or more (SLIDERS: RED).  In reading the percentage of students shifting up a quintile, staying the same or moving down was similar in 2019 and 2020.  In contrast, nearly twice as many students moved down a quintile in math this year as compared to the previous year.   

STAYING UP-TO-DATE ON CORONAVIRUS SCIENCE

DER SPIEGEL: Dr. Farrar, will we get our normal lives back in 2021?

Farrar: I think it is unlikely that we will be able to return to a completely normal state as early as this year. 2020 was a deeply traumatizing experience for people. Many have lost relatives and friends. Children could not go to school, adults could not go to work. Today, when you see footage of people crowding into public transport, sporting events or theaters and cinemas, close together, it looks like a different time. It will take time for us all to regain confidence.

DER SPIEGEL: Will we be able to beat the coronavirus this year?

Farrar: If we get it right, yes. We know how to keep the virus at bay with contact restrictions. In addition, large populations around the world could be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the first half of the new year. With both measures together, we can hope that next autumn or winter will mark the beginning of the post-COVID era. First, however, we are now entering a new dangerous phase of the pandemic.

DER SPIEGEL: You mean the new variants of the virus that have appeared in Britain and South Africa? 

Farrar: Yes. These mutants are significantly more contagious and have become the dominant virus variants in these countries in just a few weeks. The British mutant has already been found in several other countries, including Germany. I think it is inevitable that these new variants will spread and soon become dominant around the world. This will make it much more difficult to control the pandemic -- and it could get worse if the virus continues to change. So, we are now in a dramatic race against a changing virus that is under an enormous immune pressure. 

• It’s very common for viruses to mutate.
• The terms “transmissible” and “contagious” can be used interchangeably—but technically, the former is used in terms of populations and the latter refers to individuals.
• There’s strong evidence that the UK variant of the virus is more transmissible.
• There are two theories why: one is that the variant is “stickier,” meaning it requires a smaller amount of virus to cause infection because it’s better at adhering to cells. Another theory is that the variant causes people to harbor more virus in their noses and throats so they are expelling more virus when they talk, cough, or sneeze.
• Even with these mutations, the virus should still be susceptible to antibodies produced by the vaccine.

Vaccine makers in India and China are investigating whether their recently approved COVID-19 vaccines are effective against a fast-spreading variant of SARS-CoV-2 now circulating around the world. The move follows similar investigations by the makers of other leading vaccines.

 

Covaxin, developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in New Delhi and Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad, is one of several first-rollout vaccines to use an inactivated whole virus to elicit an immune response. Three other inactivated SARS-CoV-2 shots have been approved or granted emergency use in China.

 

Researchers in India have theorized that such whole-virus vaccines could perform better against new variants than can vaccines that rely on the virus’s spike protein, such as those made by Pfizer and BioNtech, Moderna, and the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.

 

If a variant escapes the immune response directed against the spike protein, a whole-virus vaccine could mean that other vulnerable areas of the virus can be attacked, says Srinath Reddy, an epidemiologist and head of the Public Health Foundation of India in New Delhi. “That is still on theoretical grounds,” he says. “Nothing has been demonstrated as yet.”

–THE NEWS of COVID-19–

91,923,640 Cases Worldwide (Johns Hopkins CSSE)

China’s Vaccine at 50% Effectiveness– Brazilian Health Officials

Brazilian health officials say a Chinese coronavirus vaccine has demonstrated an overall efficacy rate of 50 per cent, far lower than originally indicated in a blow to one of the Latin American nation’s hopes for defeating the pandemic.  The São Paulo-based Butantan Institute said last week that the CoronaVac vaccine, developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech, was 78 per cent effective at preventing mild infections, and 100 per cent effective for moderate and serious cases that require hospitalization or intensive care. However, following criticism over a lack of transparency and details in the results, the institute announced fuller data on Tuesday that showed that CoronaVac’s general efficacy rate fell to 50.4 per cent when “very mild” cases were included. (Financial Times)

 

Sweden is Tightening the Screws

After taking arguably the world’s softest approach to handling the coronavirus pandemic, Sweden is tightening the screws. As of Sunday, the government of Premier Stefan Lofven can fine and shutter businesses that fail to follow restrictions such as caps on visitors, as well as restrict private gatherings, under a new law that runs through September. It’s a departure from relying mainly on recommendations and trusting people to follow them. With the health-care system under increasing duress and deaths surging, some say it was too little too late.

(Bloomberg News)

Brazil's Own Variant?

A new coronavirus variant has been detected in four travelers from Brazil’s Amazonas state, Japan’s health ministry said Sunday. The strain differs from highly infectious variants first found in Britain and South Africa that have driven a surge in cases in those countries. A ministry official said studies were underway into the efficacy of vaccines against the new variant. “At the moment, there is no proof showing the new variant found in those from Brazil is high in infectiousness,” Takaji Wakita, head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), told a health ministry briefing. (Japan Times)

 

COVID Herd Immunity Will Not Happen in 2021, Says WHO

Despite widespread vaccination campaigns, herd immunity to the coronavirus will not be achieved this year, the WHO's top scientist has said. Until then, preventive measures such as masks will be necessary.

 

World Health Organization (WHO) chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said Monday that herd immunity to the coronavirus would not be achieved in 2021, despite the growing availability of vaccines.  Mitigating factors to herd immunity include limited access to vaccines in developing countries, skepticism about vaccination and the potential for virus mutations, according to health experts.

  

A growing number of countries around the world — including the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Germany and other EU countries — are in the first stages of mass-vaccination campaigns.  Herd immunity occurs when enough people in a population have immunity to an infection so that it prevents the disease from spreading. 

 

"We are not going to achieve any levels of population immunity or herd immunity in 2021," Swaminathan told a briefing, while emphasizing that measures such as physical distancing, handwashing and wearing masks continue to be necessary in containing COVID-19's spread for the rest of the year. 

 

Swaminathan commended the "incredible progress" made by researchers to develop several safe and effective vaccines at unprecedented speed. Countries are currently administering vaccines developed by BioNTech-Pfizer, Oxford University/AstraZeneca and Moderna.  (DW.com)

 

Ireland Had One of the Lowest Coronavirus Rates in Europe.

It’s Now Highest in the World

In the last weeks of 2020, Ireland had one of the lowest coronavirus cases per capita in the European Union. Today, it has the highest in the entire world.

 

While countries across Europe battle a third wave, in Ireland, the trajectory in recent weeks isn’t just an upward curve: It’s the path of a rocket ship.

 

Going into Christmas week, Ireland was reporting 10 new coronavirus cases each day per 100,000 residents — compared with about 66 cases per 100,000 residents in the United States. But three weeks later, Ireland is reporting more than 132 new cases per 100,000, according to the latest seven-day rolling average compiled by Johns Hopkins University, while the United States has risen less dramatically, to about 75 cases per 100,000.

 

“I think we’ve run out of adjectives to describe how serious this is,” Irish health chief Paul Reid said. (Washington Post)

 

In Mexico– 10 days, 100,000 New Cases of Covid-19

Latest weekly case numbers higher than

at any other point during pandemic

The coronavirus is spreading more quickly now than at any other time in the pandemic.

The federal Health Ministry reported 107,945 new cases in the first 10 days of January, including a single-day record of 16,105 cases on Saturday.

 

The confirmed case tally over the 10-day period represents an 8% increase compared to the final 10 days of 2020, during which 100,179 cases were reported.

 

In contrast, it took Mexico 96 days to record its first 100,000 cases: the first two cases of the coronavirus in Mexico were reported on February 28 and the accumulated tally reached six figures on June 3.

 

The rapid pace at which the virus is now spreading is emphasized by the fact that the single-day record for case numbers was broken on four consecutive days last week: 13,345 cases were reported last Wednesday, 13,734 on Thursday, 14,362 on Friday and 16,105 on Saturday.

New cases spiked in November and have been high ever since.

 

Health authorities also registered a five-figure case tally on Sunday, with 10,003 new cases pushing Mexico’s accumulated total to 1.53 million.

 

Weekly case figures also illustrate the gravity of the current situation. A total of 80,492 new cases were reported between January 3 and 9, more than in any other seven-day period of the pandemic.  (Mexico News Daily)

 

Japan to Call Emergencies in 7 More Prefectures, including Osaka

The Japanese government on Tuesday decided to declare a state of emergency for seven more prefectures in a bid to stem a sharp rise in coronavirus cases and relieve pressure on hospitals, Nikkei has learned.

 

The additional restrictions will apply to the western Japanese prefectures of Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto, the central prefectures of Gifu and Aichi, which includes Nagoya, as well as the southern prefecture of Fukuoka and the eastern prefecture of Tochigi. The emergency will last until Feb. 7, as it does for Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba.

 

In the same way as the areas around the capital, governors will call on restaurants and bars to close by 8 p.m. and ask people to stay home after that time.

 

The move means that the major urban centers of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya will all now be put under states of emergency. A final decision will be made on Wednesday after a government meeting with experts.

 

The Osaka area has seen cases climb since the start of the year. All three prefectures in western Japan are at the highest level of Japan's four-stage scale of outbreak severity, reporting at least 25 cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days. (Nikkei Asia)

 

Malaysia's King Declares COVID State of Emergency to Stop Surge

Malaysia's King Al-Sultan Abdullah declared a state of emergency across the country on Tuesday to curb the spread of COVID-19, after consenting to a request from Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is facing a leadership challenge.

 

An emergency would give the prime minister and his cabinet extraordinary powers, including allowing the government to introduce laws without the approval of parliament.

 

It was not immediately clear how the emergency would impact day to day activities, but the constitution allows for parliament to be suspended during that period - which could for now put an end to political uncertainties faced by Muhyiddin.

 

Malaysia's benchmark share index fell as much as 1.3% after the emergency announcement.

The premier has been in a precarious position since coming to power in March 2020 due to a razor thin majority in parliament. Some ruling coalition partners have been calling for him to step down and call for early elections.

 

The palace said Muhyiddin requested the emergency as a proactive measure to curb COVID-19.

The emergency will last until Aug. 1 or earlier depending on whether coronavirus infections have been brought under control.

 

"Al-Sultan Abdullah is of the opinion that the spread of COVID-19 is at a critical stage and that there is a need to declare a proclamation of emergency," the palace said in a statement.

 

On Monday, Muhyiddin announced a nationwide travel ban and a 14-day lockdown in the capital Kuala Lumpur and five states, saying the country's healthcare system was at a breaking point.

The number of new daily infections hit a record high last week, breaching the 3,000 mark for the first time. Total coronavirus cases passed 138,000 on Monday, with 555 deaths.

Status of Vaccinations Around the World

–per 100 people–

(Reporting as of January 13, 2021)

–FROM JOHNS HOPKINS CSSE–

The Cultures of Dignity Resources for Supporting

Social-Emotional Wellness 

A Final Note: The AAIE COVID-19 Briefing is provided to support your leadership for the school community you serve. We encourage you to use these resources in any way, shape or form that helps you, your communications and toward furthering close relationships across your community.  – The AAIE Board