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☆ A Huge Number of Homeowners Have Mortgage Rates Too Good to Give Up
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Emily Badger | Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Indeed, according to new research from economists at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, this lock-in effect is responsible for about 1.3 million fewer home sales in America during the run-up in rates from the spring of 2022 through the end of 2023. That’s a startling number in a nation where around five million homes sell annually in more normal times — most of those to people who already own. These locked-in households haven’t relocated for better jobs or higher pay, and haven’t been able to downsize or acquire more space. They also haven’t opened up homes for first-time buyers. And that’s driven up prices and gummed up the market.

Persons: That’s, haven’t Organizations: Federal Housing Finance Agency Locations: America

☆ Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’ Almost Everywhere
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Sarah Mervosh | Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

Increase in chronic absenteeism, 2019–23 By local child poverty rates By length of school closures By school district size By district racial makeup Source: Upshot analysis of data from Nat Malkus, American Enterprise Institute. Sara Miller, a counselor at South Anchorage High School for 20 years, now sees more absences from students across the socioeconomic spectrum. But after a visit from her school district, and starting therapy herself, she has settled into a new routine. Nationally, about 26 percent of students were considered chronically absent last school year, up from 15 percent before the pandemic. Kaylee Greenlee for The New York TimesThe Ypsilanti school district has tried a bit of everything, said the superintendent, Alena Zachery-Ross.

Persons: Nat Malkus, ”, Kaylee Greenlee, Katie Rosanbalm, —, can’t, Adam Clark, Sara Miller, Miller, Ash Adams, Tracey Carson, Ashley Cooper, she’s, ’ ”, Cooper, Rosanbalm, Duke, Quintin Shepherd, The New York Times Quintin Shepherd, Shepherd, Michael A, Gottfried, “, Nicholas Bloom, Lakisha Young, Charlene M, Russell, Tucker, Regina Murff, Sylvia Jarrus, Ann Arbor, Murff, Alena Zachery, Zachery Organizations: D.C, American Enterprise Institute, New York Times, The New York, Center of Child, Duke University, The New York Times, Missing, South Anchorage High School, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, Companies, Stanford University, Oakland Locations: Anchorage, Michigan, Washington, Victoria , Texas, Mt, Northern California, Hawaii, Mason , Ohio, Cincinnati, San Marcos , Texas, California, Connecticut, Ypsilanti, Mich, Ann, Ross

☆ A Crisis of School Absences
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Sarah Mervosh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A few years ago, a troubling phenomenon began to spread in U.S. education: Students were not showing up to school. Schools had shut down in the spring of 2020, at the start of the pandemic, and some did not fully reopen until fall 2021. Before the pandemic, about 15 percent of U.S. students were chronically absent, which typically means missing 18 days of the school year, for any reason. By the 2021-22 school year, that number had skyrocketed to 28 percent of students. Last school year, the most recent for which national estimates are available, it held stubbornly at 26 percent.

Persons: Quarantines, Francesca Paris Organizations: Schools

☆ Force of Ship Collision Was on the Scale of a Rocket Launch
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Aatish Bhatia | Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

Erin Schaff/The New York TimesForce of Ship Collision Was on the Scale of a Rocket LaunchThe container ship Dali appeared to move sluggishly before striking the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday. Experts disagreed on whether it was reasonable for any bridge pier to withstand a direct collision with a massive container ship. F = ma force mass acceleration F = ma force mass accelerationOur first task, and a major source of uncertainty, was finding those numbers. F= (100,000 to 195,000 metric tons) × (7.8 mph - 2.5 mph) / 38 seconds mass acceleration F= (100,000 to 195,000 metric tons) × (7.8 mph - 2.5 mph) / 38 seconds mass acceleration For the actual calculation, we used metric units. We tried one more method: using a formula to calculate the ship collision force published by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the industry organization that publishes bridge safety standards.

Persons: Erin Schaff, Dali, Francis Scott Key, “, ”, Ben Schafer, Nii, Sherif El, Themistoklis Sapsis, Tawil Organizations: The New York Times Force, Empire, Saturn, Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, M.I.T, American Association of State, Transportation, U.S . Army Corps, Engineers, Reuters, Sunshine Skyway Locations: Baltimore, Dali, Tampa Bay, Florida

Four years ago this month, schools nationwide began to shut down, igniting one of the most polarizing and partisan debates of the pandemic. Some schools, often in Republican-led states and rural areas, reopened by fall 2020. Others, typically in large cities and states led by Democrats, would not fully reopen for another year. A variety of data — about children’s academic outcomes and about the spread of Covid-19 — has accumulated in the time since. Today, there is broad acknowledgment among many public health and education experts that extended school closures did not significantly stop the spread of Covid, while the academic harms for children have been large and long-lasting.

Organizations: Republican, Democrats Locations: Covid

☆ Is Taylor Swift Actually Increasing N.F.L. Ratings?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Ben Blatt | Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Ever since Taylor Swift started dating the Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, she has elevated him into a new tier of celebrity. The league said that regular-season viewership was up 7 percent from last season, according to Nielsen data. Two of the four highest-rated “Sunday Night Football” games this season were attended by Swift. Just because we could, we did a little digging (OK, maybe too much digging) into just how real the “Swift effect” is. We found that the answer, like dating as a celebrity, is complicated.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Kansas City Chiefs ’ Travis Kelce, Swift Organizations: Kansas City Chiefs, Nielsen, Football

Pandemic school closures upended U.S. education. Many students lost significant ground, and the federal government invested billions to help them recover. Students Are Making a ‘Surprising’ Rebound From Pandemic Closures. The students most at risk are those in poor districts, whose test scores fell further during the pandemic. The analysis did not include Asian students, who represent 5 percent of public school students.

Persons: —, ”, Sean F, Reardon, Thomas J, Kane, Erin Fahle, Douglas O, “, Karyn Lewis, Ann Owens, Charlene Williams, Raymond Hart, Mark Sullivan, Bob Miller, Alberto M, Carvalho, ’ ”, Betsi Foster, Sullivan, Pascal Mubenga, Maria Ceja, Maria Ceja’s, Rosalina Rivera, Adam Perez, Margaret, George W, Bush, “ We’re, Eric Hanushek, Marguerite Roza Organizations: Stanford, Harvard, Educational, Dartmouth, “, Opportunity, Stanford University, Center for Education Policy Research, Harvard University, University of Southern, Schools, Oregon Department of Education, N.J ., N.J . Utah Pa, Ill, U.S, of, Great City Schools, The New York Times, Birmingham, Delano Union, Hoover Institution, Georgetown University — Locations: United States, Durham, N.C, Birmingham, Ala, Delano, Calif, University of Southern California, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oregon, Wis, N.J, N.J . Utah, S.D . Ind . Ohio Va . Conn, Mississippi, Tenn, Miss, Kan, R.I . Ky, Mich, . Ark . Oregon, ., Forsyth, Atlanta, Rochester, Detroit, Lake Oswego, Ore, Portland, Chicago, Nashville, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, California, Weakley County, Nevada

☆ The Rise of the N.F.L.’s 2-Point Conversion: A Guide to Strategy
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Ben Blatt | Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

playoffs, which begin Saturday afternoon, will probably bring high-stakes moments around a simple decision: After a touchdown, should your team kick for one point, or go for two? The 2-point try — where teams get to run one play to score from the 2-yard line — was initially a hit with coaches when it was introduced to the N.F.L. in 1994, but its popularity soon faded. In recent seasons that trend has reversed, with 2-point attempts becoming more common thanks to rule changes and to the growing role of analytics.

She left her job at Walmart because it was too physical, but her current job is mentally taxing. Nearly every Republican in the poll rated the economy unfavorably, and 59 percent of Democrats did. Steven Cabrera, 35, who works for the military in Phoenix, was among the 57 percent of voters who said economic issues were a bigger priority than societal ones. He wanted to know: Is that the reason our economy is “slowing down?” He wasn’t sure, but he thought it might be. He plans to vote for “the Republican, any Republican,” he said.

Persons: Suzanne Haberkorn, won’t, “, Steven Cabrera, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, ” Organizations: Walmart, Research, Republican Locations: Waukesha, Wis, Phoenix, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York, Ukraine

☆ Can’t Think, Can’t Remember: More Americans Say They’re in a Cognitive Fog
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Because the census relies entirely on self-reporting, experts say the data could also be capturing a shift in how people perceive their cognition, even absent changes to their health. People with disabilities might have taken note of rising disability acceptance and become more likely to answer the census questions honestly, researchers say. Some young people may have been influenced by what disability researchers describe as increased awareness and acceptance of neurodiversity during the pandemic, as videos about mental illness and developmental disorders proliferated online, often encouraging people to self-diagnose. Most of the increase is probably capturing real changes in people’s health, she said. “We need to understand who these people are, how they’re being impacted and what we can do about it.”

Persons: Sibley, ‘ I’m, ”, Monika Mitra Organizations: Lurie Institute for Disability, Brandeis University

☆ New SAT Data Highlights the Deep Inequality at the Heart of American Education
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Claire Cain Miller | Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

When we account for how few poor students take the test, by looking at all students, a new and greater disparity emerges. It’s a reflection of an inequality in American education that starts long before high school. New SAT Data Highlights the Deep Inequality at the Heart of American EducationNew data shows, for the first time at this level of detail, how much students’ standardized test scores rise with their parents' incomes — and how disparities start years before students sit for tests. And in the last five decades, as the country has become more unequal by income, the gap in children’s academic achievement, as measured by test scores throughout schooling, has widened. Parenting in places with less income inequality and more public investment in families is more playful and relaxed, research shows.

Persons: ”, Sean Reardon, Reardon, “, —, John N, Friedman, Brown, Raj Chetty, David J . Deming, Deming, Ann Owens, Owens, Rich, Chetty, “ It’s, Nate G, Hilger, Drew Angerer, Robert Putnam, “ ‘, you’re, “ They’ve, they’ve, Jesse Rothstein Organizations: ACT, of American Education, Opportunity, Harvard, Stanford Graduate School of Education, Chetty, University of Southern, Research, The New York Times, University of California Locations: University of Southern California, Berkeley

☆ See the States That Have Passed Laws Directed at Young Trans People
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Not all the laws passed this year have gone into effect yet. Several states have prohibited only certain parts of gender-affirming care. Advocates for trans care have sued in numerous states over these laws, and other Democratic-led states have passed laws protecting transition care for young people. The bill led some providers of gender-affirming care to temporarily suspend their services to adults. And several states have banned Medicaid from covering transition care for adults.

Organizations: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, Democratic Locations: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Nebraska, West

☆ Bans on Transition Care for Young People Spread Across U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Florida’s state medical boards also issued a rule last year prohibiting doctors from offering gender-affirming care to new patients under 18. Though not a law, the decree has the same effect of ending care. Two more state legislatures, in Oklahoma and South Carolina, have successfully pushed major hospitals to stop providing gender-affirming care for minors by linking the care to the use of public funds. And hospitals have faced significant harassment for providing gender-affirming care in the last few years. Republican state legislators have called gender-affirming care experimental and harmful, and say that children are not mature enough to make permanent decisions.

☆ 35 Ways Real People Are Using A.I. Right Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Francesca Paris | Larry Buchanan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +24 min

People are using ChatGPT and other A.I. Here’s how 35 real people are using A.I for work, life, play and procrastination. People are using A.I to …Plan gardens. Chris Norn Researcher at the University of Washington Two years ago researchers cracked the code on using A.I. When you run a Dungeons & Dragons game, Mr. Green says, you have to be creative, but that almost always means pulling from existing fantasy literature.

☆ Can China Reverse Its Population Decline? Just Ask Sweden.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Andrew Jacobs | Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

China’s population has begun to decline, a demographic turning point for the country that has global implications. Experts had long anticipated this moment, but it arrived in 2022 several years earlier than expected, prompting hand-wringing among economists over the long-term impacts given the country’s immense economic heft and its role as the world’s manufacturer. With 850,000 fewer births than deaths last year, at least according to the country’s official report, China joined an expanding set of nations with shrinking populations caused by years of falling fertility and often little or even negative net migration, a group that includes Italy, Greece and Russia, along with swaths of Eastern and Southern Europe and several Asian nations like South Korea and Japan.

Locations: China, Italy, Greece, Russia, Southern Europe, South Korea, Japan

☆ You Call That Snow?! See How This Winter Stacks Up.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

If so, you’re not alone: It has been a dreary winter for children hoping for snow days and grown-up snow enthusiasts alike on the East Coast. More than 50 years of snowfall in … Interactive line chart showing cumulative snowfall for each winter season over 50 years, as well as the median snowfall for all seasons. Line chart showing Philadelphia’s cumulative snowfall for each winter season over 50 years. Loading dataLine chart showing Boston’s cumulative snowfall for each winter season over 50 years. Milwaukee Pittsburgh Providence, R.I. Pueblo, Colo. Richmond, Va. Rockford, Ill. St. Louis Topeka, Kan. About normal snow Anchorage Boise, Idaho Colorado Springs Columbia, Mo.

☆ The Tom Brady of Other Jobs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

Meet them, and decide for yourself:The Tom Brady of Paramedics Jesse Izaguirre, 70Gardena, Calif.Jesse Izaguirre loves working with younger paramedics. Hopefully never.”The Tom Brady of Bakers Helen Fletcher, 83Clayton, Mo. Chalk it up to a great big fib.”The Tom Brady of Artists Lilian Thomas Burwell, 95Highland Beach, Md. “I should’ve signed them.”The Tom Brady of Biologists Maria Elena Zavala, 72Los AngelesProfessional longevity runs in Maria Elena Zavala’s family. It didn’t vanish when they crossed the border.”The Tom Brady of Loggers Earl Pollock, 82Hamburg, Ark.

But the Inflation Reduction Act, which represents about a third of the spending, was passed by Democrats alone. The White House is still pushing a more expansive child tax credit that was not included in the Inflation Reduction Act. Here’s a detailed look at what Mr. Biden wanted and what he got:Climate and Environment Proposed $722 billion Passed $509 billionOn climate, the Biden administration got much of what it wanted. Health Care Proposed $563 billion Passed $412 billionOn health care, there were some victories for the president — and much trimming. The family programs were eliminated largely because of concerns from Mr. Manchin about the overall size of what became the Inflation Reduction Act.

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