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AB-2284 Pupil instruction: digital literacy and media literacy grant program.(2021-2022)



Current Version: 04/25/22 - Amended Assembly

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AB2284:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 25, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2284

Introduced by Assembly Member Gabriel

February 16, 2022

An act to add Article 12.5 11 (commencing with Section 51840) 51830) to Chapter 5 of Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2284, as amended, Gabriel. Pupil instruction: digital literacy and media literacy grant program.
Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to 6, inclusive, to include instruction in specified areas of study, including social sciences, health, and English, as provided. Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to offer courses in specified areas of study, including social sciences and English, as provided. Existing law requires the State Department of Education, on or before July 1, 2019, to make available to school districts on its internet website a list of resources and instructional materials on media literacy, including media literacy professional development programs for teachers.
This bill would, subject to an appropriation for its purposes, require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to allocate funding to school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and the state special schools, as specified, for the purchase of standards-aligned instructional materials in media literacy and digital literacy, as defined, for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and for professional development in that content, as provided.

This bill would establish a grant program, to be administered by the State Department of Education, for the purpose of supporting media literacy and digital literacy through local educational agency leadership teams. The bill would require an applicant school district, county office of education, or charter school to establish a local educational agency leadership team to develop a curriculum unit on media literacy or digital literacy, or both, that may be integrated into social studies, English language arts, or health instruction. The bill would also require a grant applicant to include a description of how the local educational agency will incorporate age-appropriate instruction on at least 4 of a list of topics related to media literacy and digital literacy, as provided. The bill would require any curriculum developed with grant funds to be made available as an open educational resource. The bill would authorize grants for the purpose of establishing media literacy professional learning communities and would require one grant to be awarded in each award cycle for developing and using a curriculum related to synthetic media, as provided. The bill would require the department to convene at least one conference on the subject of media literacy and digital literacy. The bill would make implementation of the grant program contingent on an appropriation being made for its purposes by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

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

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


SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the importance of internet-accessible learning devices for the ability of pupils to receive a modern education. When California schools closed in 2020, many schools and school districts shifted quickly to offering education in an online environment. Teachers adapted their lessons for videoconferencing platforms and arranged for pupils to submit homework via email. However, limited opportunities for in-person instruction amplified digital deserts and disparities among pupils that are likely to continue to grow for the foreseeable future.
(2) Pupils from low-income families face disproportionate barriers to accessing learning over the internet in their homes, partly because they do not have sufficient access to internet-accessible devices appropriate for learning. Accessing learning over the internet requires more than just an internet-accessible device appropriate for learning. For pupils and their families to be truly connected, they need the digital literacy, digital skills, and digital support to use internet-accessible devices and to navigate the web in support of pupil learning.
(b) All of the following are purposes of this act:
(1) Equip pupils, teachers, and families with the skills to safely navigate the online environment.
(2) Expand training programs and technical assistance for using technology to support pupil learning.
(3) Build the capacity of schools and local educational agencies to support digital navigation services for pupils and their families.

SEC. 2.

 Article 11 (commencing with Section 51830) is added to Chapter 5 of Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:
Article  11. Digital Literacy

51830.
 (a) Subject to an appropriation for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute, the Superintendent shall allocate funding for the purchase of standards-aligned instructional materials in media literacy and digital literacy, as defined in subdivision (f), for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and for professional development in that content.
(b) The Superintendent shall allocate funds to school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and the state special schools on the basis of an equal amount per unit of regular average daily attendance, as those numbers were reported at the time of the first principal apportionment for the 2019–20 fiscal year.
(c) Funding allocated pursuant to this section shall be available for encumbrance through the 2025–26 fiscal year.
(d) A school district, county office of education, charter school, or state special school shall expend funds allocated pursuant to this section for any of the following purposes:
(1) Professional development in digital literacy and media literacy for certificated employees, administrators, and paraprofessional educators or other classified employees involved in the direct instruction of pupils in digital literacy and media literacy, that is aligned to the model school library standards adopted by the state board, including resources identified by the department pursuant to Section 51206.4.
(2) Instructional materials in digital literacy and media literacy that are aligned to the model school library standards adopted by the state board, including resources identified by the department pursuant to Section 51206.4.
(e) Funding allocated pursuant to this section shall be subject to the annual audits required by Section 41020.
(f) As used in this section, “digital literacy and media literacy” means all of the following:
(1) Cyberbullying, including the use of digital media tools, such as the internet, cellular telephones, and social media to deliberately upset or harass others.
(2) Digital literacy, consisting of the skills and perspectives needed to read and write using a range of digital devices, typically in a networked environment.
(3) Information literacy, including the ability to find, evaluate, and synthesize information from a variety of sources. Information literacy includes the ability to search for and effectively find information, but also to critically analyze the validity, credibility, and trustworthiness of information sources. In addition, information literacy includes the ability to effectively use sources according to copyright and fair use, and to cite sources appropriately, including according to the Modern Language Association, American Psychological Association, and The Chicago Manual of Style citation methods. Information literacy also includes the ability to meaningfully curate sources.
(4) Internet safety, including staying safe from online risks, such as avoiding risky online talk or encounters with inappropriate and harmful content.
(5) Media literacy, which is an augmented conception of literacy that can respond to and reflect communication in the digital age. Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and communicate using information in all forms. Media literacy is composed of competencies in understanding and using fundamental dimensions of communication, including, but not limited to, authorship, message construction, implicit and explicit message purpose, audience, aesthetic, and technical elements of production, and message effects.
(6) News literacy, which is the application of critical thinking skills to the identification and consumption of news and journalistic information. News literacy includes skills in analyzing and evaluating the reliability of news information, specifically in discerning fact from opinion, bias, or agenda. As with other forms of literacy, production skills are essential to becoming news literate.
(7) “Synthetic media,” which means an image, an audio recording, or a video recording of an individual’s appearance, speech, or conduct that has been intentionally manipulated with the use of digital technology in a manner to create a realistic but false image, audio, or video.

SECTION 1.Article 12.5 (commencing with Section 51840) is added to Chapter 5 of Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:
12.5.Digital Literacy
51840.

(a)The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1)The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the importance of internet-accessible learning devices for the ability of pupils to receive a modern education. When California schools closed in 2020, many schools and school districts shifted quickly to offering education in an online environment. Teachers adapted their lessons for videoconferencing platforms and arranged for pupils to submit homework via email. However, limited opportunities for in-person instruction amplified digital deserts and disparities among pupils that are likely to continue to grow for the foreseeable future.

(2)Pupils from low-income families face disproportionate barriers to accessing learning over the internet in their homes, partly because they do not have sufficient access to internet-accessible devices appropriate for learning. Accessing learning over the internet requires more than just an internet-accessible device appropriate for learning. For pupils and their families to be truly connected, they need the digital literacy, digital skills, and digital support to use internet-accessible devices and to navigate the web in support of pupil learning.

(b)All of the following are purposes of this article:

(1)Equip pupils, teachers, and families with the skills to safely navigate the online environment.

(2)Expand training programs and technical assistance for using technology to support pupil learning.

(3)Build the capacity of schools and local educational agencies to support digital navigation services for pupils and their families.

51841.

(a)For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1)“Local educational agency” means a school district, charter school, or county office of education.

(2)“Synthetic media” means an image, an audio recording, or a video recording of an individual’s appearance, speech, or conduct that has been intentionally manipulated with the use of digital technology in a manner to create a realistic but false image, audio, or video.

(b)(1)The department shall establish a grant program for the purpose of supporting media literacy and digital literacy through local educational agency leadership teams. The department shall establish and publish criteria for the grant program, and may accept gifts, grants, or endowments from public or private sources for the grant program.

(2)A local educational agency that receives a grant under this section is not prohibited from receiving a grant in subsequent grant cycles.

(c)(1)For a local educational agency to qualify for a grant under this section, the grant proposal shall provide that the grantee create a local educational agency leadership team that develops a curriculum unit on media literacy or digital literacy, or both, that may be integrated into one of the following areas:

(A)Social studies.

(B)English language arts.

(C)Health.

(2)For a local educational agency to qualify for a grant under this section, the grant proposal shall include a description of how the local educational agency will incorporate age-appropriate instruction on at least four of the following topics:

(A)Cyberbullying, including the use of digital media tools, such as the internet, cellular phones, and social media, to deliberately upset or harass others.

(B)Digital literacy, consisting of the skills and perspectives needed to read and write using a range of digital devices, typically in a networked environment.

(C)Financial literacy, including, but not limited to, budgeting and managing credit, student loans, consumer debt, and identity theft security.

(D)Information literacy, including the ability to find, evaluate, and synthesize information from a variety of sources. Information literacy includes the ability to search for and effectively find information, but also to critically analyze the validity, credibility, and trustworthiness of information sources. In addition, information literacy includes the ability to effectively use sources according to copyright and fair use and to cite sources appropriately, including according to the Modern Language Association, American Psychological Association, and The Chicago Manual of Style citation methods. Information literacy also includes the ability to meaningfully curate sources.

(E)Internet safety, including staying safe from online risk, such as avoiding risky online talk or encounters with inappropriate and harmful content.

(F)Media literacy, which is an augmented conception of literacy that can respond to and reflect communication in the digital age. Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and communicate using information in all forms. Media literacy is composed of competencies in understanding and using fundamental dimensions of communication, including, but not limited to, authorship, message construction, implicit and explicit message purpose, audience, aesthetic and technical elements of production, and message effects.

(G)News literacy, which is the application of critical thinking skills to the identification and consumption of news and journalistic information. News literacy includes skills in analyzing and evaluating the reliability of news information, specifically in discerning fact from opinion, bias, or agenda. As with other forms of literacy, production skills are essential to becoming news literate.

(3)Local educational agencies selected under the grant program are encouraged to evaluate the curriculum unit they develop under this subdivision.

(4)In developing their curriculum unit, local educational agencies selected under the grant program are encouraged to work with local educational agency teacher-librarians or a local educational agency library information technology program, if applicable.

(d)The curriculum unit developed under this section shall be made available as an open educational resource.

(e)(1)Grants may be awarded under this section for establishing media literacy professional learning communities with the purpose of sharing best practices in the subject of media literacy.

(2)(A)Grant recipients under this subdivision are required to develop an online presence for their community to model new strategies and to share ideas, challenges, and successful practices.

(B)Grant recipients shall attend the group meetings created by the department under subdivision (g).

(3)The department shall convene group meetings for the purpose of sharing best practices and strategies in media literacy education.

(4)Additional activities permitted for the use of grant funds under this subdivision include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(A)Organizing teachers from across a local educational agency to develop new instructional strategies and to share successful strategies.

(B)Sharing successful practices across a group of local educational agencies.

(C)Facilitating coordination among local educational agencies to provide training.

(f)At least one grant awarded in each award cycle shall be for developing and using a curriculum that contains a focus on synthetic media as a major component.

(g)(1)Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall convene at least one conference on the subject of media literacy and digital literacy.

(2)The conferences described in paragraph (1) are encouraged to highlight the work performed by the recipients of the grant program established under subdivision (b), as well as best practices in media literacy and digital literacy.

(h) The implementation of the grant program is contingent on an appropriation being made for its purposes by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute.