Monitoring The Level Of Students GPA's Over Time

A nonparametric (or distribution-free) statistical quality control chart is used to monitor the cumulative grade point averages (GPAs) of students over time. The chart is designed to detect any statistically significant positive or negative shifts in student GPAs from a desired target level. This nonparametric control chart is based on the signed-ranks of the GPAs of the sampled students. The exact false alarm rate and the in-control average run length of the proposed chart can be computed exactly and are independent of the underlying probability distribution of GPAs. The traditional Shewhart X-bar control chart for monitoring the mean of a process is based on the assumption that data follows a normal distribution. However, student GPAs may differ significantly from the normal distribution. As a result, using a traditional control chart to monitor the GPAs of students may lead to incorrectly specifying the control limits and the average run length and/or the false alarm rate of the chart. A test study was conducted at the College of Business Administration at Alabama State University. The study monitored the median cumulative GPAs of management majors during the period Spring 2005 through Spring 2009. The study revealed that the GPAs of students were stable at a median level of 2.6 over the period of the study

Effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Vaccines Against COVID-19 Among Hospitalized Adults Aged ≥65 Years — United States, January–March 2021

Adults aged ≥65 years are at increased risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19 and were identified as a priority group to receive the first COVID-19 vaccines approved for use under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in the United States (1-3). In an evaluation at 24 hospitals in 14 states,* the effectiveness of partial or full vaccination† with Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines against COVID-19-associated hospitalization was assessed among adults aged ≥65 years. Among 417 hospitalized adults aged ≥65 years (including 187 case-patients and 230 controls), the median age was 73 years, 48% were female, 73% were non-Hispanic White, 17% were non-Hispanic Black, 6% were Hispanic, and 4% lived in a long-term care facility. Adjusted vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19-associated hospitalization among adults aged ≥65 years was estimated to be 94% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 49%-99%) for full vaccination and 64% (95% CI = 28%-82%) for partial vaccination. These findings are consistent with efficacy determined from clinical trials in the subgroup of adults aged ≥65 years (4,5). This multisite U.S. evaluation under real-world conditions suggests that vaccination provided protection against COVID-19-associated hospitalization among adults aged ≥65 years. Vaccination is a critical tool for reducing severe COVID-19 in groups at high risk