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The Role of Professional Development and Technical Assistance in Supporting Implementation of COVID-19 Prevention
Syreeta Skelton-Wilson1, Sarah Lee, Jessica Potts
1ICF, Reston, Virginia (Dr Skelton-Wilson, Mr Ogunyankin, and Dr Keener Mast); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia (Dr Lee, Ms Chung, Dr Pitt-Barnes, and Ms Fahrenbruch); and Emory Centers for Public Health Training and Technical Assistance, Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia (Ms Potts).
Context:
Schools vary in their capacity to implement recommended strategies to prevent infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. Professional development (PD) and technical assistance (TA) are well-established tools used to strengthen school capacity and infrastructure for healthier school environments.
Objective:
The authors examined the relationship between PD and TA received by districts and schools and their implementation of COVID-19 prevention strategies during the 2020-2021 school year.
Design And Setting:
We conducted a descriptive analysis of survey responses collected during Spring 2021 from selected districts and schools in 9 participating states. The survey assessed the implementation of 10 COVID-19 prevention strategies recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and whether district or school staff received PD and/or TA on topics related to COVID-19 during the same year.
Participants:
Survey responses were received from designated contacts in 310 districts and 931 schools across 9 states.
Main Outcome Measures:
The dependent variable was the number of COVID-19 prevention strategies that were reported as "in place" by each district and school ranging from 0 to 10.
Results:
On average, districts and schools reported implementing 7 of 10 recommended COVID-19 prevention strategies during the 2020-2021 school year. Schools that received PD on at least 1 of 12 topics reported implementing 7.61 COVID-19 prevention strategies, whereas schools that did not receive PD reported implementing 6.34 strategies. Similarly, schools that received TA on at least 1 topic reported higher COVID-19 implementation scores (7.51) than schools that did not receive any TA (7.20).
Conclusions:
Findings reveal a positive relationship between receiving PD and/or TA and implementation of COVID-19 prevention strategies in school settings.
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