TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 test-to-stay program for K-12 schools
T2 - Opt-in versus opt-out consent model
AU - Ivanov, Anton
AU - Mukherjee, Ujjal Kumar
AU - Bose, Subhonmesh
AU - Seshadri, Sridhar
AU - Watkins, Ronald
AU - England, Albert Charles
AU - Suriano, Jacqueline
AU - Ahsen, Mehmet Eren
AU - Souyris, Sebastian
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/1/19
Y1 - 2024/1/19
N2 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promoted the Test-to-Stay (TTS) program to facilitate in-person instruction in K-12 schools during COVID-19. This program delineates guidelines for schools to regularly test students and staff to minimize risks of infection transmission. TTS enrollment can be implemented via two different consent models: opt-in, in which students do not test regularly by default, and the opposite, opt-out model. We study the impacts of the two enrollment approaches on testing and positivity rates with data from 259 schools in Illinois. Our results indicate that after controlling for other covariates, schools following the opt-out model are associated with 84% higher testing rate and 30% lower positivity rate. If all schools adopted the opt-out model, 20% of the total lost school days could have been saved. The lower positivity rate among the opt-out group is largely explained by the higher testing rate in these schools, a manifestation of status quo bias.
AB - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promoted the Test-to-Stay (TTS) program to facilitate in-person instruction in K-12 schools during COVID-19. This program delineates guidelines for schools to regularly test students and staff to minimize risks of infection transmission. TTS enrollment can be implemented via two different consent models: opt-in, in which students do not test regularly by default, and the opposite, opt-out model. We study the impacts of the two enrollment approaches on testing and positivity rates with data from 259 schools in Illinois. Our results indicate that after controlling for other covariates, schools following the opt-out model are associated with 84% higher testing rate and 30% lower positivity rate. If all schools adopted the opt-out model, 20% of the total lost school days could have been saved. The lower positivity rate among the opt-out group is largely explained by the higher testing rate in these schools, a manifestation of status quo bias.
KW - Research methodology social sciences
KW - Social sciences
KW - System management
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85181248279&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108770
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108770
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85181248279
SN - 2589-0042
VL - 27
JO - iScience
JF - iScience
IS - 1
M1 - 108770
ER -