Media Literacy in California Schools: A Reader's Guide

Chapter 1

Media Literacy Legislation

In 2018, the state of California adopted Senate Bill 830, requiring the California Department of Education to provide local education agencies media literacy instructional materials, as well as professional development opportunities for educators accessible through its website. SB 830 was signed into law to provide students the media literacy resources needed to ensure their safety when using social media and other forms of media.
On October 13, 2023, Assembly Bill 873 was signed by Governor Newsom and will require the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to consider incorporating media literacy content at each grade level into English language arts, English language development, mathematics, science, and history-social studies curriculum frameworks when they are next revised after January 1, 2024.
While AB 873 makes more suggestions that will be incorporated through time as new frameworks are created, it opens the door for school administration, with the guidance of a Teacher Librarian, to work with all faculty to create curriculum that meets the real needs of students. The bill also recognizes:

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SECTION 1.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) California does not have an official media literacy curriculum framework to ensure the teaching of media literacy content to every pupil.
(7) The existing Model School Library Standards include the identification of the skills essential for pupils to be information literate, which includes media literacy content; however, these content standards are currently not included in existing curriculum framework.

There is a discrepancy between what lawmakers want to take place regarding media literacy education versus what the IQC and State Department deem appropriate concerning media literacy and embedding it into curriculum frameworks in a timely manner. The Model School Library Standards were published in 2011, so it is unclear why they have not been included in any curriculum framework as stated directly in the bill. Perhaps the IQC, who oversees the revision of curriculum frameworks, can enlist the help of school library professionals to revise the existing frameworks to ensure the inclusion of media literacy instruction. Currently the IQC has no library and information professionals on its team. Nevertheless, one thing is clear; children and teens can no longer wait to receive media literacy education because it’s setting them up for failure. Many student, teacher,

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business, and government organizations that sponsored AB 873 like GenUp, California Teachers Association, and Los Angeles County Office of Education recognize that media ignorance is an overwhelming problem that needs to be addressed now to empower students as they navigate the tricky terrain of the Information Age.
According to a 2022 Media Literacy Policy Report published by Media Literacy Now, California joins only eighteen other states in the nation that have passed media literacy legislation. Interestingly, California along with eight other states cited in the report do not mention librarians or media specialists in the language of their media literacy laws, even though credentialed school librarians are experts in transliteracy education and are trained to collaborate cross-curricularly with faculty to increase student proficiency and potential. Equally concerning is the fact that California ranks last in the nation for providing students with qualified school librarians as well as 21st century school libraries, so it's uncertain how media literacy will be implemented in schools with so few library professionals.
Both SB 830 and AB 873 include the same definitions for media literacy as well as digital literacy. Those definitions have not changed. More specifically, digital literacy concerns a skill set “related to current technology and social media, including the norms of appropriate, responsible, and healthy behavior” and

media literacy “means the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and use media and information and encompasses the foundational skills that lead to digital citizenship (California Legislative Information, AB 873, 2023).
AB 873 provides a valuable opportunity to move forward in giving students the skills they need and deserve to be active, involved, and informed 21st century citizens. Now more than ever, Teacher Librarians need to continue to take an active position and assume a leadership role in the implementation of media literacy education.
The time is now. A generation of children and teens cannot wait for the slow wheels of government to work. California Teacher Librarians need to lead now, not later, to demonstrate their worth and expertise. They are key players; there are just not enough of them, so more need to be hired to meet this challenge along with the many other challenges facing each school.

P.S. The U.S. Department of Education has just released the 2024 National Educational Technology Plan including media literacy guidance.

Chapter One Bibliography

media literacy “means the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and use media and information and encompasses the foundational skills that lead to digital citizenship (California Legislative Information, AB 873, 2023).
AB 873 provides a valuable opportunity to move forward in giving students the skills they need and deserve to be active, involved, and informed 21st century citizens. Now more than ever, Teacher Librarians need to continue to take an active position and assume a leadership role in the implementation of media literacy education.
The time is now. A generation of children and teens cannot wait for the slow wheels of government to work. California Teacher Librarians need to lead now, not later, to demonstrate their worth and expertise. They are key players; there are just not enough of them, so more need to be hired to meet this challenge along with the many other challenges facing each school.

P.S. The U.S. Department of Education has just released the 2024 National Educational Technology Plan including media literacy guidance.

Chapter One Bibliography

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Chapter 2

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Media Literacy Models

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In the current edition of the California Model Library Standards that needs revision, media literacy is included as a part of the umbrella concept of information literacy. Many other organizations and individuals have various models not only of media literacy per se, but of associate concepts that are instructive to planning teams for an update of what is being taught in schools K-12. In this chapter, we present and describe these related models that deepen our understanding of a widening concern for young people who are encountering so many messages through varying channels.

After viewing these models, spend a few minutes and draw a picture of your own model of media literacy. How sophisticated and skilled are you at this time, and over time how could you become more skilled as a healthy skeptic of the information juggernaut you face?

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Chapter 2

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Media Literacy Models

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In the current edition of the California Model Library Standards that needs revision, media literacy is included as a part of the umbrella concept of information literacy. Many other organizations and individuals have various models not only of media literacy per se, but of associate concepts that are instructive to planning teams for an update of what is being taught in schools K-12. In this chapter, we present and describe these related models that deepen our understanding of a widening concern for young people who are encountering so many messages through varying channels.

After viewing these models, spend a few minutes and draw a picture of your own model of media literacy. How sophisticated and skilled are you at this time, and over time how could you become more skilled as a healthy skeptic of the information juggernaut you face?

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Media Literacy Models

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations created a model not of a media literacy process but instead a model that illustrates the many literacy strands or what it calls "notions" of Media and Information Literacy (MIL). As we journey through the Information Age, new literacies will be introduced to satisfy educational needs.

Image shows the Process of Media Literacy Model, showing the skillset moving from access to action through inquiry and reflection.

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Project Look Sharp is an international media literacy initiative with a plan to add media literacy education to all K-12 schools. Project Look Sharp's Director of Curriculum, Chris Sperry, believes that "Instead of telling students what to believe as 'right' or 'wrong,' effective media literacy programs will encourage students to ask questions themselves." Project Look Sharp's Process of Media Literacy Model exemplifies this type of inquiry-based skillset.

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In 2022, the Center for Media Literacy (CML) partnered with the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs' Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund to launch the Global On-ramp to Media Literacy. Through this international effort with affiliates in Singapore, Lima, Peru, Lithuania, and Los Angeles, California, CML is now involved in the promotion of media literacy education worldwide. The On-ramp Media Literacy Training course is free, and as part of the Global On-ramp education initiative, CML created the following five instructional infographics to help promote media literacy, and although they are not a media literacy model, collectively they serve as a succinct way to implement media literacy in all subject areas:

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