Prevalence of risk behaviors and correlates of SARS-CoV-2 positivity among in-school contacts of confirmed cases in a Georgia school district in the pre-vaccine era, December 2020–January 2021

Background There is a continuing risk for COVID-19 transmission in school settings while transmission is ongoing in the community, particularly among unvaccinated populations. To ensure that schools continue to operate safely and to inform implementation of prevention strategies, it is imperative to gain better understanding of the risk behaviors of staff and students. This secondary analysis describes the prevalence of COVID-19 risk behaviors in an exposed population of students and school staff in the pre-vaccine era and identifies associations between these behaviors and testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. Methods From December 2020–January 2021, school staff and students exposed to confirmed COVID-19 cases in a Georgia school district were tested for SARS-CoV-2 and surveyed regarding risk behaviors in and out of school. Prevalence of risk behaviors was described by age group and school level, and associations with SARS-CoV-2 positivity were identified using chi squared tests. Results Overall, 717 students and 79 school staff participated in the investigation; SARS-CoV-2 positivity was 9.2%. In the 2 weeks prior to COVID-19 exposure, 24% of participants reported unmasked indoor time at school, 40% attended social gatherings with non-household members, and 71% visited out-of-school indoor locations, including 19% who ate indoors in restaurants. Frequencies of risk behaviors increased by age. Among students, 17% participated in school sports, of whom 86% participated without a mask. SARS-CoV-2 positivity was significantly associated with school sports and unmasked time in sports. Among K-5 students, positivity was associated with exposure to a teacher index case. Conclusions This analysis highlights the high prevalence of risk behaviors in an unvaccinated population exposed to COVID-19 in school and identifies an association between student sports participation and SARS-CoV-2 positivity. These findings illustrate the importance of school-level prevention measures to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission, including limiting close-contact indoor sports and promoting consistent mask use in unvaccinated individuals. Future research could explore the role of community vaccination programs as a strategy to reduce COVID-19 transmission and introductions into school settings.

Iterative redesign of a caregiver-mediated intervention for use in educational settings

Teachers endorse disruptive behavior as a considerable concern for autistic students, which is compounded by the lack of adequate resources for behavioral intervention planning in the classroom. The RUBI program is an evidence-based, low-intensity manualized intervention, initially developed for parents of autistic children ages 3–14 and co-occurring disruptive behavior. Utilizing the Discover, Design/Build, Test (DDBT) framework, which combines user-centered design and implementation science, RUBI intervention content was collaboratively and iteratively redesigned with elementary school stakeholders (40 school staff from 28 schools) to ensure the feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of the redesigned intervention, RUBI in Educational Settings (RUBIES). Iterative quantitative and qualitative methods were conducted with stakeholders to identify targets for RUBI redesign. Conventional content analysis was used to code qualitative data and identify usability issues. Recommendations were provided for modifications to RUBI sessions to address the needs of the school context and end-users to develop RUBIES. Feasibility scores improved following the redesign. The use of the DDBT framework to redesign the RUBI intervention may promote greater usefulness and usability in school contexts. Lay abstract Teachers often report concerns about behavior challenges in their students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the school setting. Furthermore, teachers often report that they do not have adequate training in how to manage these challenging behaviors effectively. The RUBI program is an intervention initially developed for parents of children with ASD and co-occurring challenging behavior in clinic settings. The present project used school staff input to systematically redesign RUBI to be used with educators in schools. School staff gave input at multiple stages of development to ensure the adapted intervention was appropriate to use in a school setting. Responses were coded and analyzed to identify strengths and weaknesses of the RUBI manual in schools and adaptations were made accordingly. Scores of how appropriate, possible, likable, and usable RUBI would be in schools rose after the intervention was redesigned. The redesigned RUBIES manual may give school staff the tools they need to manage disruptive behaviors. In addition, collaborating with providers over multiple stages to redesign established interventions for new contexts may be a promising way to help bring research tools to practice in the future.

Teaching Menstrual Care to a Student With Autism Spectrum Disorder in a School Setting

There is a lack of training for parents, school staff, and residential staff aimed at helping persons with intellectual disabilities acquire menstrual self-care skills. This may be due in part to the sensitive nature of this topic, the aversion to performing menstrual care for individuals with a disability, and the lack of empirically supported training protocols. This chapter critically reviews behavior analytic research on menstrual care that has been published in peer reviewed journals. This is followed by a case illustration using behavior analytic methods to teach menstrual self-care skills for a student with autism spectrum disorder in a public school setting. Evaluated using a multiple baseline across behaviors design, it was shown that the student increased her independent performance of selected menstrual self-case skills.

Teacher Attitudes Towards the School Integration of Students With Special Educational Needs

In recent decades, the issue of integrating students with SEN in mainstream education has been the focus of both educationalists and teachers from Romania. In this respect, integrated education means the form of schooling in which students with SEN are taught in mainstream education, while inclusive education assumes that schools adjust themselves to the psycho-individual particularities of each student, whether or not they have certain disabilities. Unfortunately, teachers and other educational agents are not always prepared to accept and meet the needs of a student with disabilities. Thus, the aim of this research was to identify the attitude of teachers towards the integration of students with SEN in the mainstream education of Bihor county, Romania. The results show that both society and a large part of the school staff ignore the issue of people with disabilities, preferring a superficial involvement, which restricts itself mainly to the administrative aspect instead of developing quality interpersonal relationships between non-disabled students and those with SEN.

Implementation of SMS Gateway as Informatioan System at SMKN 2 Kabupaten Sorong

The SMS gateway as an information system at SMK Negeri 2 Kabupaten Sorong can facilitate information delivery. Both the delivery of information for students and parents/guardians, as well as for school staff. This study aims to develop an information system with SMS Gateway at SMK Negeri 2 Kabupaten Sorong. The use of the SMS Gateway system is a solution for delivering school information. This research uses a research & development (R&D) approach. Data collection was done by using the observation method, literature study, and interviews. The output of this research is an SMS Gateway system that makes it easier for SMK Negeri 2 Kabupaten Sorong to deliver information to students, parents/guardians, and staff. The system test uses the White Box and Black Box methods with the results that the functions in the SMS Gateway system have functioned correctly and as expected.

Primary school staff perspectives of school closures due to COVID-19, experiences of schools reopening and recommendations for the future: A qualitative survey in Wales

School closures due to the COVID-19 global pandemic are likely to have a range of negative consequences spanning the domains of child development, education and health, in addition to the widening of inequalities and inequities. Research is required to improve understanding of the impact of school closures on the education, health and wellbeing of pupils and school staff, the challenges posed during face-to-face reopening and importantly to identify how the impacts of these challenges can be addressed going forward to inform emerging policy and practice. This qualitative study aimed to reflect on the perspectives and experiences of primary school staff (pupils aged 3–11) in Wales regarding school closures and the initial face-to-face reopening of schools and to identify recommendations for the future. A total of 208 school staff completed a national online survey through the HAPPEN primary school network, consisting of questions about school closures (March to June 2020), the phased face-to-face reopening of schools (June to July 2020) and a return to face-to-face education. Thematic analysis of survey responses highlighted that primary school staff perceive that gaps in learning, health and wellbeing have increased and inequalities have widened during school closures. Findings from this study identified five recommendations; (i) prioritise the health and wellbeing of pupils and staff; (ii) focus on enabling parental engagement and support; (iii) improve digital competence amongst pupils, teachers and parents; (iv) consider opportunities for smaller class sizes and additional staffing; and (v) improve the mechanism of communication between schools and families, and between government and schools.