54 | The Value and Feasibility of COVID-19 Testing in K-12 Schools

On the Evidence

In late March, the Biden administration announced that it was investing $10 billion to ramp up COVID-19 screening testing to help schools reopen. The expansion of screening tests in schools follows a February report from Mathematica that drew lessons from the experiences of six pilot sites that implemented COVID-19 testing in schools. These pilot programs—in Central Falls, Rhode Island; Los Angeles, California; Tulsa, Oklahoma; New Orleans, Louisiana; Louisville, Kentucky; and Washington, DC—were conducted with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, and Johns Hopkins University. The report provided insights about the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of adding a testing program to schools’ existing COVID-19 related plans. For this episode of On the Evidence, guests Jennifer Harper, Sarah Hanck, and Divya Vohra discuss findings from the Mathematica report, impacts of the report so far, more recent lessons based on Tulsa’s experience implementing testing, and what leaders in schools and communities across the country need to know about using antigen testing as a screening tool. Harper is the project manager for COVID antigen testing in schools in Tulsa. Hanck is a senior advisor at the Rockefeller Foundation for strategy and impact who has provided guidance and support to Mathematica as it gathered evidence about antigen testing in the six pilot sites. Vohra is a senior researcher at Mathematica who coauthored the report on the pilots. Read Mathematica's report on the partnership between six pilot sites and the Rockefeller Foundation to implement COVID-19 rapid antigen tests in schools: mathematica.org/news/research-supported-by-the-rockefeller-foundation-strengthens-the-evidence-base-for-reopening-k-12 Help us improve the show. Please take our listener survey at tinyurl.com/ontheevidence Upon completion of the survey, you will be given the option to provide an email address that will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $50 e-gift card.