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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2020)
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020 Baker City, Oregon 4A Write a letter news@bakercityherald.com EDITORIAL Contact tracing limitations Contact tracing — until this year a process fa- miliar mainly to epidemiologists — is elegant in its simplicity. Or so it seemed. The idea is to track the spread of communicable diseases by interviewing people who are infected and fi nding out who they have had close contact with and thus might unknowingly have spread the disease to. In some cases the potential infectious encounter is obvious — a person who tests positive spends a cou- ple of days in a small house with a group of friends. But the limitations of contact tracing have be- come apparent in Oregon during the coronavirus pandemic. For much of this summer, contact tracers haven’t been able to determine the source of infec- tion for more than 40% of Oregonians who tested positive. The rate of “mystery” infections recently is even higher in some counties, including 62% in Multnomah County, the state’s most populous, and 67% in Clackamas, which ranks third in population, according to The Oregonian. A potential reason for this level of uncertainty is the limited nature of contact tracer interviews. Oregon Public Broadcasting and The Oregonian reported last week that contact tracers aren’t asking people who tested positive for COVID-19 whether they’ve patronized a bar, restaurant or gym during the period when they might have been infectious. Health offi cials from Multnomah County told The Oregonian that this question isn’t part of contact tracing interviews because there aren’t enough trac- ers to track potential infections based on places the infected person visited, and that the primary goal is to identify people who might have been in close con- tact with an infected person. Those people are then asked to voluntarily quarantine during the period when they might be infectious. But even if health agencies don’t have resources to backtrack every infected person’s movements, conducting more thorough contact tracing interviews would at a minimum yield additional data. And if ever there was a situation when more information is welcome, surely the coronavirus pandemic is that situation. The purpose isn’t to target bars, restaurants and gyms, many of which have been devastated fi nancial- ly during the pandemic. The Oregon Health Author- ity (OHA) hasn’t reported any COVID-19 outbreaks at a bar or gym, and the agency has announced just six relatively small outbreaks at restaurants, involv- ing fi ve to 14 infections. But the OHA limits disclo- sure of such outbreaks — it doesn’t announce ones involving fewer than fi ve people or ones at businesses that employ fewer than 30. But the OHA is unlikely to reveal latent infection patterns if contact tracers aren’t asking possibly relevant questions. Responses to those questions, besides the obvious benefi t of potentially identifying sources of community spread and making it possible to deal with those sources, could help businesses by alerting them to potential gaps in their COVID-19 precautions. — Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor Schools, families must work together on distance learning Many teachers, students and their families can agree on one thing after experiencing the unexpected hurricane that was distance learning this spring: It must improve — especially in the earliest grades, transitional kindergar- ten through second grade. Our youngest students, from ages 4 to 9, need more supervision through- out the day and help with the technol- ogy that enables learning. They are developmentally different from their older peers in ways that signifi cantly impact how they best learn. Distance- learning practices must refl ect that reality. As educational researchers, we learned from conversations with teachers, school leaders, parents and early-education experts what strate- gies were effective for initiating and sustaining student engagement in the spring. Anyone responsible for sup- porting young students in distance learning could benefi t from employing these approaches. Obviously, distance instruction is not the same as in-person instruction and should not look the same. Sure, some strategies can transfer to a dis- tance classroom, but forcing distance learning to look like “normal” school is trying to put a square peg in a round hole and will only hurt our youngest students. California requires at least 180 minutes of instructional time a day for kindergarten students and 230 minutes for grades one through three. Setting this expectation is critical for ensuring students receive daily inter- action with teachers and their peers. However, many districts, including Los Angeles Unifi ed, have struggled with determining how much instruction should be given through live, uninter- rupted video streams. LAUSD is giving teachers broad leeway on that front. Even adults have trouble videocon- ferencing for long stretches. For the youngest students, it is nearly impos- sible. It’s an ineffective strategy for younger students for an obvious reason — they have shorter attention spans. But the livestream approach also emphasizes the quantity of instruction without giving enough attention to quality. In a traditional classroom, young BENJAMIN COTTINGHAM ALIX GALLAGHER students spend signifi cant amounts of time learning in small groups with peers rather than with the whole class, so that teachers can provide individu- alized feedback, more easily conduct lessons, and intentionally facilitate social interactions between students. Distance classrooms should mirror this approach. Live instruction in distance class- rooms should be structured around short interactive lessons, with synchro- nous learning opportunities — where students learn together at the same time — broken into smaller chunks throughout the day. Teachers should have multiple opportunities to interact with students one-on-one and in smaller groups, and they should make it a priority to use learning activities that allow students to work together. Play is essential for learning and key to young students’ development of interpersonal skills, as well as their social emotional well-being. There are many creative ways teachers can reach beyond the computer screen to facilitate play. Games such as “Simon Says” help build executive-functioning skills and provide an opportunity for energetic young students to move. Technol- ogy can be used to facilitate play and engagement between students through various education applications and games. Teachers can also use interac- tions similar to “carpet time” to foster engagement where students interact with materials or items individually and share their creations with their teacher and classmates. And as families know all too well, young students need ongoing adult engagement to guide their distance learning. To support parents, schools and districts such as San Francisco Unifi ed are partnering with commu- nity organizations that traditionally support students to provide learn- ing spaces and trained staff to help students to safely complete distance learning lessons. And teachers only have so much time, so maintaining regular contact with student families should not just fall to them — counsel- ors and noninstructional staff should help out. In the spring, some teachers cre- ated fl exible lessons that families could adapt to the time and resources available to them. Providing students and parents with options for different activities drives engagement while being responsive to family needs. Regular check-ins with a student’s family should serve as a troubleshoot- ing opportunity, whether it’s about the academics or the family’s well-being. In addition, lessons focused on topics important to students’ families can also help bring culturally relevant instruction to the fore. Teachers should provide alterna- tives to student learning as a group by offering at-home work that can be com- pleted on their own or away from the computer. These might include online literacy, numeracy and math, and sci- ence lessons as well as such activities as guided reading in any language or building math skills through daily ac- tivities such as cooking or telling time. Just as in a brick-and-mortar classroom, young students should be encouraged to display their mastery of new concepts, which could be accom- plished through apps, verbal sharing and small-group conversations. In the spring, many schools and districts did not do a good enough job communicating expectations to parents. Teachers and schools need to make sure families and students understand their roles in making dis- tance learning work. A clear schedule should be provided that establishes the time, for example, for whole-class morning meetings, guided readings, the teacher’s offi ce hours, and the blocks of time for instruction. Improving distance education in ways that support student learning this fall will require meaningful chang- es in practice and tighter collaboration between schools and families. Distance education is here for the foreseeable future. We need to get better at it. Benjamin Cottingham and Alix Gallagher are educational researchers at Policy Analysis for California Education. CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS President Donald Trump: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1414; fax 202-456-2461; to send comments, go to www.whitehouse.gov/contact. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. offi ce: 313 Hart Senate Offi ce Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-3753; fax 202-228-3997. Portland offi ce: One World Trade Center, 121 S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; 503-326-3386; fax 503-326-2900. Baker City offi ce, 1705 Main St., Suite 504, 541- 278-1129; merkley.senate.gov. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. offi ce: 221 Dirksen Senate Offi ce Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-5244; fax 202-228-2717. La Grande offi ce: 105 Fir St., No. 210, La Grande, OR 97850; 541- 962-7691; fax, 541-963-0885; wyden.senate.gov. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (2nd District): D.C. offi ce: 2182 Rayburn Offi ce Building, Washington, D.C., 20515, 202-225-6730; fax 202- 225-5774. La Grande offi ce: 1211 Washington Ave., La Grande, OR 97850; 541-624-2400, fax, 541-624-2402; walden.house.gov. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 254 State Capitol, Salem, OR 97310; 503-378-3111; www.governor.oregon.gov. Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read: oregon.treasurer@ ost.state.or.us; 350 Winter St. NE, Suite 100, Salem OR 97301- 3896; 503-378-4000. Oregon Attorney General Ellen F. Rosenblum: Justice Building, Salem, OR 97301-4096; 503-378-4400. Oregon Legislature: Legislative documents and information are available online at www.leg.state.or.us. State Sen. Lynn Findley (R-Ontario): Salem offi ce: 900 Court St. N.E., S-403, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1730. Email: Sen. LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov State Rep. Mark Owens (R-Crane): Salem offi ce: 900 Court St. N.E., H-475, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1460. Email: Rep. MarkOwens@oregonlegislature.gov Baker City Hall: 1655 First Street, P.O. Box 650, Baker City, OR 97814; 541-523-6541; fax 541-524-2049. City Council meets the second and fourth Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers. Loran Joseph, Randy Schiewe, Lynette Perry, Arvid Andersen, Larry Morrison, Jason Spriet and Doni Bruland. Baker City administration: 541-523-6541. Fred Warner Jr., city manager; Ray Duman, police chief; Sean Lee, interim fi re chief; Michelle Owen, public works director. Baker County Commission: Baker County Courthouse 1995 3rd St., Baker City, OR 97814; 541-523-8200. Meets the fi rst and third Wednesdays at 9 a.m.; Bill Harvey (chair), Mark Bennett, Bruce Nichols. Baker County departments: 541-523-8200. Travis Ash, sheriff; Noodle Perkins, roadmaster; Greg Baxter, district attorney; Alice Durfl inger, county treasurer; Stefanie Kirby, county clerk; Kerry Savage, county assessor. Baker School District: 2090 4th Street, Baker City, OR 97814; 541-524-2260; fax 541-524-2564. Superintendent: Mark Witty. Board meets the third Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. Council Chambers, Baker City Hall,1655 First St.; Andrew Bryan, Kevin Cassidy, Chris Hawkins, Katie Lamb and Julie Huntington.
