A longitudinal analysis of COVID-19 prevention strategies implemented among US K-12 public schools during the 2021-2022 school year.

Purpose: Examine how school-based COVID-19 prevention strategy implementation varied over time, including by local characteristics.

Methods: School administrators (n = 335) from a nationally representative sample of K-12 public schools completed four surveys assessing COVID-19 prevention strategies at two-month intervals between October 2021 and June 2022. We calculated weighted prevalence estimates by survey wave.

Predictors of Willingness to Participate in COVID-19 Screening Testing from a Pilot School Survey in the United States.

Background: COVID-19 screening testing (ST) can detect asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic cases, allowing for prompt identification of cases and close contacts. This study examined parents' and school staffs' knowledge and attitudes toward to a pilot school-based ST program in a school district in southern Arizona.

Methods: In May 2021, online surveys to parents and school staff were administered to examine attitudes toward ST and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Facilitators and Barriers to Implementing COVID-19 Prevention Strategies in K-12 Public Schools.

To meet the educational needs of students, most schools in the United States (U.S.) reopened for in-person instruction during the 2021-2022 school year implementing a wide range of COVID-19 prevention strategies (e.

Disparities in the Implementation of School-Based Mental Health Supports Among K-12 Public Schools.

Objective: The authors sought to explore the availability of mental health supports within public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic by using survey data from a nationally representative sample of U.S. K-12 public schools collected in October-November 2021.

Ventilation Improvements Among K-12 Public School Districts - United States, August-December 2022.

Improving ventilation has been one of several COVID-19 prevention strategies implemented by kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) schools to stay open for safe in-person learning. Because transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurs through inhalation of infectious viral particles, it is important to reduce the concentration of and exposure time to infectious aerosols (1-3). CDC examined reported ventilation improvement strategies among U.

Disparities in Implementing COVID-19 Prevention Strategies in Public Schools, United States, 2021-22 School Year.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, US schools have been encouraged to take a layered approach to prevention, incorporating multiple strategies to curb transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Using survey data representative of US public K-12 schools (N = 437), we determined prevalence estimates of COVID-19 prevention strategies early in the 2021-22 school year and describe disparities in implementing strategies by school characteristics. Prevalence of prevention strategies ranged from 9.

Modifications to student quarantine policies in K-12 schools implementing multiple COVID-19 prevention strategies restores in-person education without increasing SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk, January-March 2021.

Objective: To determine whether modified K-12 student quarantine policies that allow some students to continue in-person education during their quarantine period increase schoolwide SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk following the increase in cases in winter 2020-2021.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of COVID-19 cases and close contacts among students and staff (n = 65,621) in 103 Missouri public schools. Participants were offered free, saliva-based RT-PCR testing.

Dosage in Implementation of an Effective School-Based Health Program Impacts Youth Health Risk Behaviors and Experiences.

Purpose: This study is part of a larger evaluation of a multilevel, multistrategy federal program to reduce high school students' risk for HIV/sexually transmitted infection and unintended pregnancy. Local education agencies supported schools in implementing three strategies: delivering exemplary sexual health education, increasing student access to quality sexual health services, and enhancing safe and supportive school environments (SSE). We examined how levels of school implementation of these strategies moderated program effects on targeted student outcomes.

Overwhelming Support for Sexual Health Education in U.S. Schools: A Meta-Analysis of 23 Surveys Conducted Between 2000 and 2016.

Purpose: Surveys suggest that the general public (i.e., adults or parents) supports sexual health education in schools.

Measurement of gender and sexuality in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study.

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study is a longitudinal study of adolescent brain development and health that includes over 11,800 youth in the United States. The ABCD study includes broad developmental domains, and gender and sexuality are two of these with noted changes across late childhood and early adolescence. The Gender Identity and Sexual Health (GISH) workgroup recommends measures of gender and sexuality for the ABCD study, prioritizing those that are developmentally sensitive, capture individual differences in the experience of gender and sexuality, and minimize participant burden.

The CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health Approach to Sexual Health Education in Schools: 3 Decades in Review.

Background: School health education, including sexual health education, plays a crucial role in shaping adolescents' protective health behaviors, experiences, and outcomes. Adolescents need functional knowledge and skills to practice, adopt, and maintain healthy behaviors for preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and unintended pregnancy.

Methods: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Adolescent and School Health (CDC/DASH) has advanced school-based approaches to STI/HIV and pregnancy prevention through surveillance, research and evaluation, and program partnership and collaboration for over 3 decades.

Adolescent Mental Health, Connectedness, and Mode of School Instruction During COVID-19.

Background: Because COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020, nearly 93% of U.S. students engaged in some distance learning.

Pediatric COVID-19 Cases in Counties With and Without School Mask Requirements - United States, July 1-September 4, 2021.

Consistent and correct mask use is a critical strategy for preventing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (1). CDC recommends that schools require universal indoor mask use for students, staff members, and others in kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) school settings (2). As U.

COVID-19-Related School Closures and Learning Modality Changes - United States, August 1-September 17, 2021.

Beginning in January 2021, the U.S. government prioritized ensuring continuity of learning for all students during the COVID-19 pandemic (1).

Local Education Agency Impact on School Environments to Reduce Health Risk Behaviors and Experiences Among High School Students.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to assess associations between exposure to a multilevel, socio-ecological health program administered by local education agencies and changes in health behaviors among high school students.

Methods: This analysis used a multilevel difference-in-differences approach to compare student health experiences and outcomes between schools selected by local education agencies nationwide to implement the program (exposed schools) and schools that were not (unexposed schools). We measured repeated cross-sectional outcomes using the 2015 and 2017 Youth Risk Behaviors Surveys.

Point-of-Care Antigen Test for SARS-CoV-2 in Asymptomatic College Students.

We used the BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card to screen 1,540 asymptomatic college students for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in a low-prevalence setting. Compared with reverse transcription PCR, BinaxNOW showed 20% overall sensitivity; among participants with culturable virus, sensitivity was 60%. BinaxNOW provides point-of-care screening but misses many infections.

Effects of Condom Use on Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission Among Adolescent Sexual Minority Males in the United States: A Mixed Epidemiology and Epidemic Modeling Study.

Background: We examined condom use patterns and potential population-level effects of a hypothetical condom intervention on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission among adolescent sexual minority males (ASMM).

Methods: Using 3 data sets: national Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2015 to 2017 (YRBS-National), local YRBS data from 8 jurisdictions with sex of partner questions from 2011 to 2017 (YRBS-Trends), and American Men's Internet Survey (AMIS) 2014 to 2017, we assessed associations of condom use with year, age, and race/ethnicity among sexually active ASMM. Using a stochastic agent-based network epidemic model, structured and parameterized based on the above analyses, we calculated the percent of HIV infections averted over 10 years among ASMM ages 13 to 18 years by an intervention that increased condom use by 37% for 5 years and was delivered to 62% of ASMM at age 14 years.