Over the past 20 months, The Rockefeller Foundation and its partners have focused on supporting schools in their efforts to reopen safely amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Recognizing a need for targeted support, the Foundation facilitated the development and gathering of peer networks, tools, guidance, and expert advice to help schools stand up Covid-19 testing programs as a facet of multi-pronged risk mitigation strategies. To accompany the step-by-step guidance laid out in Covid-19 Testing in K-12 Settings: A Playbook for Educators and Leaders, The Rockefeller Foundation has developed and gathered additional examples and resources to equip school and school district leaders for the design and roll-out of their testing programs.
This new resource seeks to simplify the process of setting up testing by identifying key steps for schools to take including: connecting to a school testing provider; learning about different testing options; developing a plan and the team for how students and staff will participate in testing; communicating with parents on consent and the testing process; and planning for how to isolate individuals who tests positive during school hours. It also links to a number of videos to learn more about different aspects of setting up a school testing program and a peer learning network to connect with schools who are already testing.
Answering family’s questions about school-based testing can build trust and transparency, and help schools and their community partners start, strengthen, and sustain their testing program. But answering these questions can be hard. This 2-pager can help! It helps answer family’s frequently asked questions about testing in schools including: why schools are offering testing, what testing looks like in schools, what a child experiences during a test, and what happens if a child tests positive.
The Rockefeller Foundation’s K-12 National Action Testing Program (NTAP) highlights findings from school leaders, parents, advocates, labs, and manufacturers; connects schools with testing vendors; and outlines key testing strategies for schools. NTAP was developed in collaboration with 21 U.S. labs and testing manufacturers, is designed to operationalize the $10 billion allocated to K-12 school testing under the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan. The program highlights a 3-step testing protocol to test teachers twice a week and students once a week with case studies on early-adopter of school-based testing.
This playbook is designed to offer detailed, step-by-step guidance to help educators, leaders and their public health partners design and implement effective testing programs in schools. Informed by experiences from over 90 school district and public health leaders as well as a wide-range of research, evidence, and expert insights, the Playbook addresses the operational challenges and every-day realities of implementing a complex, logistical program in an easy-to-understand, practical guide. The Playbook is developed in partnership with Testing for America, a nonprofit dedicated to helping organizations reopen safely with expanded Covid-19 testing, and supported by the Skoll Foundation through the RF Catalytic Capital, Inc. (RFCC), the Foundation’s public charity.
This Project Planning Workbook is a downloadable Excel tool that can support the step-by-step processes needed to design, implement, and project manage district-wide testing in schools. The information in this workbook closely aligns with the best practices outlined in The Rockefeller Foundation’s Covid-19 Testing in K-12 Settings: A Playbook for Educators and Leaders.
Download Project Planning Workbook
This is a series of interactive Tabletop Exercises for school system leadership teams to use in tandem with The Rockefeller Foundation’s Covid-19 Testing in K-12 Settings: A Playbook for Educators and Leaders. These exercises, accompanying tools, and graphic organizers guide teams through the process and decision-making steps to operationalize the implementation of the playbook.
This resource simulates a Covid-19 testing strategy during a typical school day for students, staff, and families. Case study examples can be used to test processes, identify gaps, refine plans, and share those plans with the community.
This document is designed for leaders to use as they consider common questions regarding Covid-19 screening, testing, and vaccination programs for their education systems. The resource is intended to support the overall development of successful return-to-learn and return-to-work plans.
Download Covid-19 Testing and Vaccination Programs FAQ
An independent task force convened by the COVID Collaborative, Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Brown School of Public Health, and New America brought together representatives from across health and education, from associations representing teachers, principals and superintendents, to public health institutions and professional associations to develop guidance designed to help integrate effective infection prevention and control measures in schools, which can keep transmission of Covid-19 near zero, even with community spread. The package of resources includes a “Roadmap to Healthy Schools,” a practical guide to school-based infection control, produced by members of the task force; a consensus statement on the latest CDC guidance, issued by leading scientists convened by the task force’s organizers; and a use of funds advisory memo for how states might allocate resources toward infection prevention and control, developed by the task force’s organizers.
This Playbook, developed with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, is designed to help schools navigate the evolving challenges COVID-19 presents to in-person learning. The Playbook is continuously updated to reflect the latest references, resources, and research on: funding opportunities; mitigation strategies; detection methods; and how to support vaccination efforts. All Playbook materials are completely free and offered as open-source content. SalivaDirect™ also offers a companion Labs2Schools Playbook for laboratories interested in supporting school-based testing.
Every School Safe and Open Playbook
COVIDCheck Colorado is offering logistical, technical, and clinical support to conduct routine screening with a saliva PCR test in the school setting for their students and staff with the SalivaDirectTM protocol. This document outlines everything the testing team needs to know and do prior to, during, and after testing.
This document covers the detailed information partner schools need to know about the saliva PCR sample collection process, including roles and responsibilities, PPE requirements, important considerations, collection processes, data, and reporting.
Used by the pilot testing team in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with guidance from community leaders, this survey informs a trauma-based testing approach at testing sites. ACEs, in combination with the stress and anxiety that many people experience due to Covid-19, can make going to work, keeping up with household chores, and child/adult care challenging. Based on the results of this survey, the team offers to connect adults to supportive services to help.
This CDC toolkit is designed for public health officials, K-12 administrators, school district officials, and occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals to assess hazards and implement mitigation strategies to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in schools. To protect students, teachers and staff, and the broader community, schools should consider implementing several of the recommended strategies, which will encourage behaviors that reduce the spread of Covid-19.