SCC-CIVIC-PG Track B: Building PreK-12 School Resilience in the Face of COVID-19

PreK-12学校重新开放，采用一套限制病毒传播的缓解策略进行面对面教学，包括与同一小群学生聚集，座位之间的间隔，交错调度，在走廊中创建单向路线，以及关闭公共使用共享空间。然而，每个地区和学校都有其独特的性质和不同的社区公共卫生条件，在考虑到其教室/校园环境、学生人数和社区公共卫生条件的情况下，如何执行建议的措施，只能由它们自己决定。因此，该项目的愿景是通过授权学区预测、监测和评估其限制传播的缓解策略的有效性，建立PreK-12学校面对Covid-19的复原力。特别是，该项目侧重于教育环境中的物理距离（例如，学校建筑、交通巴士）作为限制传播的关键策略，其长期目标是与德克萨斯州的学院站独立学区（CSISD）合作，创建和验证技术和社会工具，帮助学区和学校预测、监测和加强学生在教育环境中的身体距离行为。为了实现其长期目标，该计划拨款将培养必要的研究人员，研究基础设施和基础工作，通过（1）创建一个基于代理的模拟模型来预测学生的物理距离行为;（2）进行调查以检查影响学生预防行为的因素;以及（3）协调社区会议和重点访谈，以了解社区在设计使能技术/工具方面的需求。最终，该项目的成功完成将立即有利于教育管理人员和设施管理人员在考虑其教育设施和学生群体的情况下设计最佳运营措施。此外，项目成果将为设计和实施行为干预提供指导，以提高学生对身体距离做法的认识和遵守。这对降低COVID-19传播风险和确保学校持续安全运营至关重要。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

PreK-12 schools reopen for in-person instruction with a set of mitigation strategies that limits transmission of the virus, including cohorting with the same small group of students, spacing between seats, staggered scheduling, creating one way routes in hallways, and closure of communal use shared spaces. However, each district and school, which has unique qualities and varying public health conditions in communities, is left on its own regarding how to implement recommended measures considering its classroom/campus settings, student population, and public health conditions in communities. The vision of this project is thus to build PreK-12 schools’ resilience in the face of Covid-19, by empowering school districts to predict, monitor, and evaluate the effectiveness of their mitigation strategies to limit transmission. In particular, this project focuses on physical distancing within the educational environment (e.g., school buildings, transportation buses) as a key strategy for limiting transmission, and its long term goal is to create and validate technological and social tools that help districts and schools to predict, monitor, and enhance physical distancing behaviors of students within the education environment, in collaboration with College Station Independent School District (CSISD) in Texas. In order to achieve its long term goal, this planning grant will develop the necessary research personnel, research infrastructure, and foundational work, by (1) creating a pilot agent-based simulation model to predict students’ physical distancing behaviors; (2) conducting a survey to examine factors influencing students’ preventive behaviors; and (3) coordinating community meetings and focus interviews to build an understanding of communities’ needs in designing enabling technologies/tools. Ultimately, the successful completion of this project will immediately benefit educational administrators and facility managers in designing optimal operation measures considering their educational facilities and student populations. In addition, the project outcomes will provide guidance in designing and implementing behavioral interventions to enhance students’ awareness and compliance to physical distancing practices. This will be critical in reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission and ensuring continuous and safe school operations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.