To combat the spread of COVID-19, many primary and secondary schools in the United States canceled classes and moved instruction online. This study examines an unexplored consequence of COVID-19 ...school closures: the broken link between child maltreatment victims and the number one source of reported maltreatment allegations—school personnel. Using current, county-level data from Florida, we estimate a counterfactual distribution of child maltreatment allegations for March and April 2020, the first two months in which Florida schools closed. While one would expect the financial, mental, and physical stress due to COVID-19 to result in additional child maltreatment cases, we find that the actual number of reported allegations was approximately 15,000 lower (27%) than expected for these two months. We leverage a detailed dataset of school district staffing and spending to show that the observed decline in allegations was largely driven by school closures. Finally, we discuss policy implications of our findings for the debate surrounding school reopenings and suggest a number of responses that may mitigate this hidden cost of school closures.
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•Most K-12 public schools in the U.S. closed in March 2020 to slow the spread of COVID-19.•We examine an unexplored consequence of these school closures: the underreporting of child maltreatment allegations.•We estimate a counterfactual distribution of child maltreatment allegations in the absence of COVID-19.•The actual number of child maltreatment allegations was approximately 27% lower than expected in months with school closures.•We discuss policy implications of our findings for the debate surrounding school reopenings.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
High-quality observations of B and V light curves obtained at Las Campanas Observatory for local Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) show clear evidence that SNe Ia with the same brightness decline or ...stretch may have systematic and independent deviations at times t {approx}< 5 days before and at times t {approx}> 30 days after maximum light. This suggests the existence of two independent secondary parameters that control the shape of SN Ia light curves in addition to the primary light curve parameter, stretch s or DELTAm{sub 15}. The secondary parameters may reflect two independent physical effects caused by variations in the initial carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) profile in the progenitor and the initial central density rho{sub c} in a carbon-oxygen white dwarf exploding as an SN Ia. Theoretical light curves of delayed detonation SN Ia models with varying progenitor masses on the main sequence, varying accretion rates, and varying primordial metallicity reproduce two morphologically different and independent types of variations in observed visual light curves. These calculations predict small variations of {approx}0.05 mag in the absolute brightness of SNe Ia which are correlated with the variations of progenitor mass on the main-sequence M{sub MS}, which changes the C/O profile, and rho{sub c}, which depends on the accretion rate. Such variations in real supernovae will induce systematic errors in SN Ia calibration at high redshifts. A physically motivated three-parameter, s, C/O, rho{sub c}, template for SNe Ia light curves might take these variations into account. Comparison between the theoretical predictions and the observational results agree qualitatively; however, the observations show variations between the B and V light curves that are not expected from the modeling and may indicate limitations in the details of the theoretical models.
The high energy radiation environment around M dwarf stars strongly impacts the characteristics of close-in exoplanet atmospheres, but these wavelengths are difficult to observe due to geocoronal and ...interstellar contamination. On account of these observational restrictions, a stellar atmosphere model may be used to compute the stellar extreme ultraviolet (EUV; 100-912 ) spectrum. We construct semiempirical nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium model spectra of the ultracool M8 star TRAPPIST-1 that span EUV to infrared wavelengths (100 −2.5 m) using the atmosphere code PHOENIX. These upper atmosphere models contain prescriptions for the chromosphere and transition region and include newly added partial frequency redistribution capabilities. In the absence of broadband UV spectral observations, we constrain our models using Hubble Space Telescope Lyman observations from TRAPPIST-1 and Galaxy Evolution Explorer UV photometric detections from a set of old M8 stars (>1 Gyr). We find that calibrating the models using both data sets separately yield similar far-ultraviolet and NUV fluxes, and EUV fluxes that range from (1.32-17.4) × 10−14 ergs s−1 cm−2. The results from these models demonstrate that the EUV emission is very sensitive to the temperature structure in the transition region. Our lower activity models predict EUV fluxes similar to previously published estimates derived from semiempirical scaling relationships, while the highest activity model predicts EUV fluxes a factor of 10 higher. Results from this study support the idea that the TRAPPIST-1 habitable zone planets likely do not have much liquid water on their surfaces due to the elevated levels of high energy radiation emitted by the host star.
This study examines the impacts of two distinct types of school spending on student outcomes. State-imposed revenue limits cap the total amount of revenue that a school district in Wisconsin can ...raise unless the district holds a referendum asking voters to exceed the cap. Importantly, Wisconsin law requires districts to hold separate referenda for operational and capital expenditures, which allows for estimating their independent effects. Leveraging close elections in a dynamic regression discontinuity framework, I find that increases in operational spending have substantial positive effects on test scores, dropout rates, and postsecondary enrollment, but additional capital expenditures have little impact. (JEL D72, H75, I21, I22, I28)
This study examines the short-run impact of a weakening of teachers’ unions on student achievement. In 2011, Wisconsin enacted the Budget Repair Bill, or Act 10, which significantly limited the power ...of teachers’ unions in the state by restricting their fundraising abilities and limiting the scope of collective bargaining. Exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in the timing of exposure to Act 10 due to differences in the expiration dates of pre-existing collective bargaining agreements across school districts, I find that the law reduced average test scores on the state’s standardized exam by approximately 20% of a standard deviation. Results from quantile regressions indicate that this effect was largely driven by declines in the lower half of the student achievement distribution. Lastly, the study explores plausible mechanisms behind the observed decline in achievement, and presents evidence that the law led to a significant increase in teacher turnover and a large reduction in teacher salaries.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
6.
Pretrial juvenile detention Jason Baron, E.; Jacob, Brian; Ryan, Joseph
Journal of public economics,
January 2023, 2023-01-00, Volume:
217
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
•Roughly 1 in 4 juveniles arrested in U.S. spend time in pretrial detention.•We study the effects of juvenile detention among public school students in Michigan.•We find that detention reduces high ...school graduation by 38%.•We find that detention increases arrests by 27%.
Roughly one in four juveniles arrested in the U.S. spend time in a detention center prior to their court date. To study the consequences of this practice for youth, we link the universe of individual public school records in Michigan to juvenile and adult criminal justice records. Using a selection-on-observables design, we estimate that juvenile detention leads to a 38% decline in the likelihood of graduating high school and a 27% increase in the likelihood of being arrested as an adult by age 19. Falsification tests suggest the results are not driven by unobserved heterogeneity.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Ten sessions of adjunctive transcranial magnetic stimulation to the left prefrontal cortex may significantly reduce fibromyalgia pain compared to baseline pain.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation ...(TMS) of the prefrontal cortex can cause changes in acute pain perception. Several weeks of daily left prefrontal TMS has been shown to treat depression. We recruited 20 patients with fibromyalgia, defined by American College of Rheumatology criteria, and randomized them to receive 4000 pulses at 10
Hz TMS (
n
=
10), or sham TMS (
n
=
10) treatment for 10 sessions over 2
weeks along with their standard medications, which were fixed and stable for at least 4
weeks before starting sessions. Subjects recorded daily pain, mood, and activity. Blinded raters assessed pain, mood, functional status, and tender points weekly with the Brief Pain Inventory, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire. No statistically significant differences between groups were observed. Patients who received active TMS had a mean 29% (statistically significant) reduction in pain symptoms in comparison to their baseline pain. Sham TMS participants had a 4% nonsignificant change in daily pain from their baseline pain. At 2
weeks after treatment, there was a significant improvement in depression symptoms in the active group compared to baseline. Pain reduction preceded antidepressant effects. TMS was well tolerated, with few side effects. Further studies that address study limitations are needed to determine whether daily prefrontal TMS may be an effective, durable, and clinically useful treatment for fibromyalgia symptoms.
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The ever-expanding depth and quality of photometric and spectroscopic observations of stellar populations increase the need for theoretical models in regions of age-composition parameter space that ...are largely unexplored at present. Stellar evolution models that employ the most advanced physics and cover a wide range of compositions are needed to extract the most information from current observations of both resolved and unresolved stellar populations. The Dartmouth Stellar Evolution Database is a collection of stellar evolution tracks and isochrones that spans a range of Fe/H from - 2.5 to +0.5, image from -0.2 to +0.8 (for image) or +0.2 (for image), and initial He mass fractions from image to 0.40. Stellar evolution tracks were computed for masses between 0.1 and 4 image, allowing isochrones to be generated for ages as young as 250 Myr. For the range in masses where the core He flash occurs, separate He-burning tracks were computed starting from the zero age horizontal branch. The tracks and isochrones have been transformed to the observational plane in a variety of photometric systems including standard image, Stromgren uvby, SDSS ugriz, 2MASS image, and HST ACS/WFC and WFPC2. The Dartmouth Stellar Evolution Database is accessible through a Web site at http://stellar.dartmouth.edu/ similar to models/ where all tracks, isochrones, and additional files can be downloaded.
Six percent of children in the United States enter foster care by age 18. We estimate the effects of foster care on children's outcomes by exploiting the quasi-random assignment of child welfare ...investigators in Michigan. We find that foster care improved children's safety and educational outcomes. Gains emerged after children exited the foster system when most were reunified with their birth parents, suggesting that improvements made by their parents were an important mechanism. These results indicate that safely reducing the use of foster care, a goal of recent federal legislation, requires more effective in-home, prevention-focused efforts. (JEL H75, I21, J13, K42)
The significant role that the media played during the apartheid years in South Africa is staggering. Abundant evidence suggests that, during those years, the print media served as instruments for ...propaganda, for the apartheid regime, while the Argus group, for instance, exposed the atrocities and human rights violations of the same regime. However, 24 years into democracy, what is the role of the media in a post-apartheid South Africa, where citizens still suffer from the ghosts of apartheid, the continued human rights violations, racial discrimination, and related issues that make it seem as if South Africa is "irreconcilable"? This question will be addressed by drawing from a recent study conducted by the author that has demonstrated the role of newspapers in moral formation as a positive perspective on the media in the process of reconciliation. The author argues that the print media play their role through their articulation of a good society, through regular reporting on issues related to reconciliation, which can be regarded as an exercise in vigilance to help their readers identify, and address immoral behaviour that may impede achieving reconciliation. Through such reporting, the audience could become virtuous people that will serve as assets in the process and journey for reconciliation in South Africa.
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