Risk perception of the COVID-19 vaccines: revisiting the psychometric paradigm

Americans' concerns about the risks of vaccination are rising in recent years. In the original piece that explicated the psychometric paradigm, vaccinations were rated as less dreaded and less unknown. However, in 2016, vaccinations were more dreaded and more unknown in the public eye. A national survey (N = 1025) conducted in August 2021 reflects this trend in risk perception of the COVID-19 vaccines. Individuals who report different risk perceptions based on the unknown and dread characteristics associated with the COVID-19 vaccines also report different behavioral intent toward the vaccines. Overall, these findings show unknown risk to have a more salient impact on participants' risk perception that influence their vaccine-related decisions. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Internet Access and Educational Backwardness in the Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Mexico's Rural Households

We evaluate the impact of Internet access on educational backwardness in rural Mexico, with a focus on gender differences. Based on data from Mexico's National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure in 2020 (Encuesta Nacional de Ingresos y Gastos de los Hogares, ENIGH 2020) and a treatment econometric model, our results indicate that in the total sample of the rural sector, Internet access decreases up to 3.28% points the probability that an individual will experience educational backwardness. With respect to gender differences, our results suggest that the effect of Internet access on educational backwardness is greater for women than for men, due to prevalent gender inequality in rural Mexico. Our findings point to the need for better policymaking to narrow the digital divide and educational gap that have expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico's rural sector. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Teachers of Hispanic or Latino Origin: Background and School Settings in 2017-18. Data Point. NCES 2022-025

This Data Point examines the background and school settings of teachers of Hispanic or Latino origin in public and private schools in the United States before the coronavirus pandemic. It uses data from the public and private school teacher data files of the 2017-18 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), which is a national sample survey of public and private K-12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. State-level estimates can also be produced for public schools, principals, and teachers. This Data Point looks at: (1) What were the characteristics of teachers of Hispanic or Latino origin in 2017-18?, and (2) What were the characteristics of schools where teachers of Hispanic or Latino origin taught in 2017-18?

The Demand Side of Alternative Education Products

Data on the popularity of alternative educational models like "pandemic pods," homeschooling, "hybrid" homeschooling, and tutoring has been anecdotal, episodic, and parochial. Journalistic accounts of new learning communities in some cities and some states have profiled schools, the educators that teach in them, and the families that attend them, but collecting reliable, nationwide data has proved challenging. We at EdChoice have been surveying a nationally representative sample of Americans every month since early 2020, with an oversample of school parents starting in September 2020. This has allowed us to measure the nationwide sentiment around learning pods, homeschooling, hybrid homeschooling, tutoring, and the like. We have also surveyed a nationally representative sample of teachers every quarter and have put three polls of the nation's teenagers in the field in August of 2020, February of 2021, and September of 2021. Our survey results show there is potentially a robust market for learning pods, or similar arrangements such as microschools, hybrid homeschools, and homeschool cooperatives, and that this market could include large numbers of Black, Hispanic, and lower-income families.

Mental and physical health and well-being of canadian employees who were working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed various aspects of our lives, including how we work. Since the start of the pandemic, numerous organizations in Canada have mandated their employees to work from home (WFH) on a full-time basis. The rapid rise in the number of remote workers and the possibility for WFH continuing in the future signifies the importance of understanding the health and well-being of employees working from home over the course of the pandemic in Canada. We present the findings of two surveys (initial and 6-month follow-up) to examine the health and well-being of WFH employees during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. We analyzed the changes in mental and physical health and well-being of employees who were working from home between two time points during the pandemic. METHODS: Initial survey was completed between October 2020 and December 2020 (n = 1617); follow-up survey was completed between May 2021 and June 2021 (n = 382). We calculated the frequencies for survey questions involving demographics, WFH preferences, workstation setup training, employment situation, provision of hardware technologies, provision and usage of software technologies, and organization's return to work plan. We conducted Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to analyze the within-individual changes in mental and physical health and well-being of the 382 respondents who completed both the initial and follow-up surveys. RESULTS: Our analyses showed significant changes in various aspects of employee mental and physical health and well-being. Burnout, stress, general mental health, and job insecurity levels significantly decreased between the two time periods. Work-related sedentary behaviour reduced over time; however, the average proportion of time spent sitting during work hours was more than 80% in both surveys. Employees received more help and feedback from their colleagues and experienced a better sense of community with their co-workers over time. CONCLUSION: The findings can inform workers and organizations on the changes in mental and physical health and well-being of employees working from home during the pandemic. By understanding the changes in worker health and well-being, employers can develop effective strategies and implement policies that help protect employees' health and well-being.

Online Shopping Behaviour in South Africa During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Traditional brick-and-mortar stores have had to endure competition the past years from various shopping channels, particularly online shopping, which is driven by mobile technologies and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers, restricted by COVID-19 lockdown regulations, had to increasingly make use of online shopping. The aim of this exploratory study was to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the online shopping behaviour of South African consumers and if the behaviour would continue in the post COVID-19 period. Factors were identified from literature that influence consumer’s online shopping behaviour. A national survey was conducted, using mixed methods research and the data from 673 respondents were statistically analysed. The findings indicate that only 12% of the respondents shopped online for the first time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and 87% indicated they shop online monthly. Sixty-eight percent indicated they will continue shopping online and 65% think online shopping is a safer option. The products purchased most during the pandemic period were fast foods and clothing and the preferred delivery method was receiving the goods at home. The factors that affected online shopping during the COVID-19 period most were Personal Experience of Online Shopping, Interaction with products and the Current impact of Covid-19 on shopping. The findings suggest that customers in South Africa will continue to make use of online technologies to purchase goods and services. © 2022, IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.

Emergency Remote Teaching and First-year Student Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Emergency Remote Teaching and Student Engagement during COVID-19

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions worldwide have been facing the imperative of shifting to emergency remote teaching (ERT). This paper presents a case study of ERT at the Macao Polytechnic University, measuring the effectiveness of ERT in light of first-year student engagement. A first-year student engagement survey, using an instrument adapted from the US National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), was conducted in the 2019/2020 cohort after about one month of ERT in 2020. The results were compared to those of the first-year student engagement surveys conducted respectively in 2019 (before the pandemic) and in 2021 (in the post-pandemic era), assessing the extent to which students were engaged in ERT with the objective of contributing to enhanced practices in the delivery of ERT during crises. © 2022 ACM.

Black or African American Teachers: Background and School Settings in 2017-18. Data Point. NCES 2022-024

This Data Point examines the background and school settings of Black or African American teachers in public and private schools in the United States before the coronavirus pandemic. It uses data from the public and private school teacher data files of the 2017-18 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS). This is a national sample survey of public and private K-12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. State-level estimates can also be produced for public schools, principals, and teachers. This data point looks at: (1) the characteristics of Black or African American teachers in 2017-18;and (2) the kinds of schools Black or African American teachers taught in during 2017-18.

Online Education in Lebanon During the Covid-19 Crisis: An Ongoing Coping Phase

The Lebanese educational system muddles through the Covid-19 pandemic with limitations to effective application of Online Teaching/Learning, and official indecisiveness towards going back to face-to-face instruction. A national survey on 7095 respondents from the different educational stakeholders in Lebanon was launched to by the Center for Educational Research and Development in order to identify the online learning experience of the Lebanese educational community. This paper analyzes the needs and the gaps of Online teaching in a country where approximately 70% of the schools had their first experience in online learning during the COVID 19 pandemic and where approximately 60% of the students attend online classes using their cell phones. The paper compares the perception of 3 groups: students, parents, and teachers. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Predictors of third-person perceptions about media's influence on vaccination against COVID-19

Purpose: The present study aims to unveil the main predictors of perceived media influence (the third-person effect (TPE)) on people's opinions towards COVID-19 vaccination. While the TPE has been researched before in medical contexts, predictors of TPE on the topic of vaccination against COVID-19 are understudied. Design/methodology/approach: This study employs a national survey using an online panel (N = 945) representative for the online population of Romania aged 18 or higher;data were collected during 1–9 April 2021. Findings: Results indicate that people perceive both close and distant others to be more influenced by media information related to COVID-19 vaccination topics. TPE perception is correlated with belief in conspiracy theories about vaccines/vaccination, perceived incidence of fake news about COVID-19 vaccines/vaccination, perceived usefulness of social networking sites and critical thinking. Originality/value: Results from this study might explain the success rate of some communication strategies employed with the help of the media. Key findings could be used as starting points for understanding the profile of those who underestimate the media's impact on themselves with respect to COVID-19 immunization and for designing more successful media strategies. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.

The Rise of Virtual Schools: Selected Findings from the Third American School District Panel Survey. Data Note: Insights from the American Educator Panels. Research Report. RR-A956-5

The onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted school districts in the United States to offer remote schooling options for their K-12 students. The authors of this report fielded the third American School District Panel (ASDP) survey in June 2021 to assess districts' plans to offer both temporary and more-lasting remote instruction options starting in fall 2021. The key ASDP findings presented in this report draw on the responses of 292 district leaders after weighting those responses to make them nationally representative. Results from the June 2021 ASDP survey suggest that K-12 remote instruction will outlast the pandemic. Remote instruction can be delivered in various forms, however, and the survey questions delved into three: a temporary option for fully remote instruction in fall 2021, fully online courses, and standalone virtual schools. The authors explore differences in districts' pre-pandemic offerings and plans to offer multiple remote instructional modes in the 2021-2022 school year by district type. Virtual schools have had the most marked growth. Only 3 percent of surveyed districts ran a virtual school before the pandemic began. Since the pandemic began, however, the number of districts running virtual schools has grown ninefold. And nearly one-quarter of surveyed districts that had no plans to operate a virtual school in the 2021-2022 school year had at least some interest in operating a virtual school sometime in the future. [For a related report, "Technical Documentation for the Third American School District Panel Survey. Research Report. RR-A956-6," see ED615291.]

The K-12 Pandemic Budget and Staffing Crises Have Not Panned Out - Yet: Selected Findings from the Third American School District Panel Survey. Data Note: Insights from the American Educator Panels. Research Report. RR-A956-3

This report presents school district leaders' views about staff turnover, hiring, and districts' financial outlooks at the end of the 2020-2021 school year. Based on the survey responses of 292 district leaders from the American School District Panel (ASDP), the authors found that teacher and principal turnover had not increased substantially beyond pre-pandemic rates in most districts. They also found that a majority of school districts have increased or are trying to increase their number of staff--especially for substitute teachers and mental health staff--for the 2021-2022 school year. District leaders also reported budget concerns. Four in ten district leaders anticipate a fiscal cliff around the time coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) federal aid expires in September 2024, and over half of the districts that anticipate a funding increase from federal stimulus funds are concerned about their ability to spend the money, even though virtually all district leaders said that they have some level of discretion in how to spend those funds. Although districts' reported impacts have not led to much-feared budget and staffing crises for their school districts, these survey findings suggest systemic problems that could outlast the COVID-19 pandemic. [For a related report, "Technical Documentation for the Third American School District Panel Survey. Research Report. RR-A956-6," see ED615291.]

The Trust Deficit in England: Emerging Research Evidence about School Leaders and the Pandemic

England has been living with COVID-19, through peaks and troughs since March 2020. Policymakers see schools as integral to economic and social maintenance and recovery and have thus placed a high priority on education as a stable provision operating throughout a very long period of considerable uncertainty and instability. Because of rapidly changing levels of infection and scientific understandings of transmission and prevention measures, the government has adjusted, often at the last minute, the legal requirements around the opening and closing of schools in line with the various levels of lockdown. School leaders have been faced with challenges unimaginable prior to the pandemic. Because schools are a major site for virus transmission, leaders have had to pay particular attention to the management of staff, pupils and buildings. Working together with the two leader associations, the authors designed and conducted a national survey to assess the impact of the pandemic on leaders' well-being and career plans. While the authors have not yet completed interviewing a sample of those intending to leave and those intending to stay, it is abundantly clear that the government has some way to go to win back the school leaders on whom they depend.