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SB-203 Pupil instruction: digital citizenship and media literacy.(2017-2018)

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Date Published: 04/26/2017 09:00 PM
SB203:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Senate  April 26, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 203

Introduced by Senator Jackson

January 31, 2017

An act to add Section 51206.5 to the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 203, as amended, Jackson. Pupil instruction: digital citizenship and media literacy.
Existing law provides for a system of public schools and requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to include instruction in specified areas of study.
This bill would require, on or before December 1, 2018, the State Department of Education, Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, executive director of the State Board of Education, to identify best practices and recommendations for instruction in digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy and to report to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature on strategies to implement the best practices and recommendations statewide. The bill would require the Superintendent to convene and consult with an advisory committee consisting of specified representatives in developing the best practices and recommendations. The bill would require each school district, beginning in the 2019–20 school year, to annually review its policy and procedures on digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy in accordance with specified requirements. By imposing new duties on school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YESNO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Media and technology have become pervasive in all areas of our lives.
(2) In our classrooms, pupils must learn how to safely, ethically, responsibly, and effectively use media and technology resources.
(3) Kids have never had as much access to the Internet, media, and mobile technologies at home and school as they do today.
(4) Schools can play a critical role by educating, empowering, and engaging children with the best practices around technology use.
(5) While media and technology have great promise for learning, young people need support and education to learn how to make sound judgments when navigating the digital world.
(6) School administrators and educators are now faced with new and, at times, overwhelming challenges, such as those related to privacy, digital footprints, cyberbullying, and sexting.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide a process by which pupils, parents, guardians, teachers, teacher librarians, other school employees, school administrators, and community representatives will engage in an ongoing discussion on safe media and technology use, with the goal of establishing digital citizenship and media literacy as part of the state’s basic educational goals and essential academic learning requirements.

SEC. 2.

 Section 51206.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:

51206.5.
 (a) (1) For purposes of this section, “digital citizenship” and “media literacy” are broad terms that encompass consumption and production of media and digital products and are defined as follows:
(A) “Digital citizenship” means a diverse set of skills related to current technology and social media, including the norms of appropriate, responsible, and healthy behavior. Major areas include safety concerns such as cyberbullying prevention.
(B) “Media literacy” means the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, develop, produce, and interpret media and encompasses the foundational skills that lead to digital citizenship.
(2) The Legislature finds and declares that digital citizenship and media literacy education provide digital technology skills essential for success in the 21st century.
(b) (1) On or before December 1, 2018, the department, Superintendent, in consultation with the Superintendent, executive director of the state board, shall identify best practices and recommendations for instruction in digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy and shall report to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature on strategies to implement the best practices and recommendations statewide.
(2) The best practices and recommendations shall be developed in consultation with the advisory committee specified in subdivision (c).
(3) The best practices and recommendations shall include instruction that provides guidance about thoughtful, safe, and strategic uses of online and other media resources and education on how to apply critical thinking skills when consuming and producing media in any form.
(4) The requirement for submitting a report imposed pursuant to this subdivision is inoperative on December 1, 2022, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(c) The Superintendent shall convene and consult with an advisory committee when developing best practices and recommendations for instruction in digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy. The advisory committee shall be comprised of a majority of certificated teacher librarians and current certificated classroom teachers with experience teaching media literacy and shall include representatives from all of the following:
(1) California County Superintendents Educational Services Association.
(2) California School Boards Association.
(3) Experts in digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy.
(4) Other stakeholders, including pupils, certificated teacher librarians, parent organizations, educators, diverse current classroom teachers, and administrators.
(d) The recommendations of the advisory committee may include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Revisions to the state learning standards and the state educational technology plan.
(2) Revisions to the model Model policies and procedures on digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy developed by the School Superintendents Association.
(3) School district processes necessary to develop customized school district policies and procedures on electronic resources and Internet safety that can be used within a school district technology plan.
(4) Best practices, resources, and models for instruction in digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy.
(5) Best practices, resources, and models for instruction of digital citizenship that are compliant with the federal Universal Service E-rate program administered by the Schools and Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administrative Company and federal mandates established in the federal Children’s Internet Protection Act (Public Law 106-554).
(6) Strategies that will support school districts in local implementation of the best practices and recommendations developed by the department, including strategies for delivering professional development to educators and administrators.

(e)Beginning in the 2019–20 school year, a school district shall annually review its policy and procedures on digital citizenship, Internet safety, and medial literacy. In reviewing and amending the policy and procedures, a school district shall do all of the following:

(1)Involve a representation of parents or guardians, teachers, teacher librarians, other school employees, school administrators, pupils, and community representatives with experience or expertise in digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy issues.

(2)Consider customizing the model policy and procedures on electronic resources and Internet safety.

(3)Consider existing school district resources.

(4)Consider best practices, resources, and models for instruction in digital citizenship, Internet safety, and media literacy, Including methods to involve parents.

SEC. 3.

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.