S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8215
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 2, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  RYAN  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation  to  creating  a  set  of
   media  literacy  standards for students in grades kindergarten through
   twelve
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 801-b
 to read as follows:
   § 801-B. INSTRUCTION IN MEDIA LITERACY.    1.  FOR  PURPOSES  OF  THIS
 SECTION,  "MEDIA  LITERACY"  SHALL  MEAN THE ABILITY TO ACCESS, ANALYZE,
 EVALUATE, CREATE, AND ACT USING ALL FORMS OF  COMMUNICATION,  USE  MEDIA
 AND  ENCOMPASSES  THE  FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS THAT LEAD TO DIGITAL CITIZEN-
 SHIP. "DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP" SHALL MEAN A DIVERSE SET OF  SKILLS  RELATED
 TO CURRENT TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA, INCLUDING THE NORMS OF APPROPRI-
 ATE,  RESPONSIBLE,  AND HEALTHY BEHAVIOR AND FOCUSES ON EMPOWERING LEAR-
 NERS TO USE ONLINE RESOURCES, APPLICATIONS AND SPACES TO IMPROVE  COMMU-
 NITIES AND CURATE A POSITIVE AND EFFECTIVE DIGITAL FOOTPRINT.
   2.  THE  REGENTS,  IN  CONJUNCTION WITH THE COMMISSIONER, SHALL ENSURE
 THAT THE COURSE OF INSTRUCTION IN  GRADES  KINDERGARTEN  THROUGH  TWELVE
 INCLUDES  A  COMPONENT  ON MEDIA LITERACY.  SUCH COMPONENT SHALL INCLUDE
 INSTRUCTION OF INTERNET SAFETY, CIVILITY AND DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP WITH  A
 FOCUS  ON  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF SAFE, RESPONSIBLE USE OF THE INTERNET AND
 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS.  THE BOARDS OF EDUCATION AND TRUSTEES OF  THE
 CITIES AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS OF THE STATE SHALL REQUIRE INSTRUCTION TO BE
 GIVEN  IN MEDIA LITERACY, BY THE TEACHERS EMPLOYED IN THE SCHOOLS THERE-
 IN.  IF AVAILABLE, INSTRUCTION IN MEDIA LITERACY SHALL  BE  PROVIDED  BY
 LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALISTS EMPLOYED BY THE SCHOOLS THEREIN.
   3.  THE  COMMISSIONER, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE REGENTS, SHALL INCORPO-
 RATE  EXISTING  STATE  MEDIA  LITERACY  STANDARDS  INTO  THE   COMPONENT
 DESCRIBED  IN  SUBDIVISION  TWO  OF  THIS SECTION AND CREATE A CLEAR AND
 COHERENT SET OF MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION STANDARDS, WHICH SHALL INCLUDE,
 BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, THE FOLLOWING SKILLS, EXPERIENCES  AND  COMPETEN-
 CIES:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD11916-02-1
 S. 8215                             2
 
   A.  READING  EXPERIENCES BALANCED BETWEEN LITERATURE AND INFORMATIONAL
 TEXTS, WHICH INCLUDE BOTH PRINT AND DIGITAL SOURCES;
   B.  INTEGRATION AND EVALUATION OF CONTENT AND INFORMATION PRESENTED IN
 DIVERSE MEDIA AND FORMATS INCLUDING VISUAL, QUANTITATIVE AND ORAL;
   C. USE OF TECHNOLOGY AND DIGITAL TOOLS, INCLUDING  THE  INTERNET,  FOR
 WRITING AND DRAWING TO INCREASE LEARNING AND COMMUNICATION AND TO INTER-
 ACT AND COLLABORATE WITH OTHERS;
   D.  WRITING OF INFORMATIVE AND EXPLANATORY TEXTS TO EXAMINE AND CONVEY
 COMPLEX IDEAS AND INFORMATION CLEARLY AND ACCURATELY THROUGH THE  EFFEC-
 TIVE SELECTION, ORGANIZATION AND ANALYSIS OF CONTENT, INCLUDING MULTIME-
 DIA;
   E.  STRATEGIC  USE  OF  DIGITAL  MEDIA  AND VISUAL DISPLAYS TO EXPRESS
 INFORMATION AND ENHANCE UNDERSTANDING OF PRESENTATIONS;
   F. THE ABILITY TO ASSESS HOW POINT  OF  VIEW  OR  PURPOSE  SHAPES  THE
 CONTENT  AND  STYLE  OF  A  TEXT,  DRAWING ON A WIDE RANGE OF GLOBAL AND
 DIVERSE TEXTS;
   G. GATHERING OF RELEVANT INFORMATION FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES AND ASSESS-
 ING THE CREDIBILITY AND ACCURACY OF SUCH SOURCES, TO BE  ABLE  TO  INTE-
 GRATE SUCH INFORMATION IN WRITING WITHOUT PLAGIARIZING;
   H.  EFFECTIVELY  COMMUNICATING  CONCLUSIONS AND TAKING INFORMED ACTION
 BASED ON SUCH CONCLUSIONS;
   I. THE ABILITY TO CREATE, PRODUCE, RESPOND, INTERPRET AND CONNECT WITH
 ARTISTIC WORK AND TECHNIQUES;
   J. MANAGING INFORMATION WITH A FOCUS ON THE ABILITY TO ACCESS AND  USE
 INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM OTHER PEOPLE, COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND COMPUTER
 NETWORKS  AND  USING  TECHNOLOGY  TO  ACQUIRE,  ORGANIZE AND COMMUNICATE
 INFORMATION BY ENTERING, MODIFYING, RETRIEVING AND STORING DATA;
   K. DEMONSTRATION OF DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP BY MAINTAINING  ETHICAL  DECI-
 SION  MAKING  AND BEHAVIOR AND AVOID THE SPREAD OF MISINFORMATION IN THE
 EXCHANGE AND USE OF INFORMATION;
   L. USE OF DIGITAL TOOLS TO COMMUNICATE AND WORK WITH OTHERS  TO  BUILD
 KNOWLEDGE, CONVEY IDEAS, LEARN WITH OTHERS, CREATE AND REVISE COLLABORA-
 TIVE  PRODUCTS, SUPPORT INDIVIDUAL LEARNING AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE LEARN-
 ING OF OTHERS;
   M. USE OF DIGITAL TOOLS TO  CREATE  AND  REVISE  SIMPLE,  COMPLEX  AND
 MULTIMEDIA DIGITAL ARTIFACTS;
   N.  IDENTIFICATION OF WAYS OTHER PEOPLE PUT THEIR OWN INFORMATION INTO
 ONLINE SPACES;
   O. THE ABILITY TO EXPLAIN HOW ACTIONS IN ONLINE SPACES CAN HAVE CONSE-
 QUENCES IN OTHER SPACES AND THE CONNECTION BETWEEN  THE  PERSISTENCE  OF
 DATA ON THE INTERNET, PERSONAL ONLINE IDENTITY AND PERSONAL PRIVACY;
   P. ACTIVELY MANAGING DIGITAL PRESENCE AND DIGITAL FOOTPRINT TO REFLECT
 AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE PERMANENCE AND POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES OF ACTIONS
 IN ONLINE SPACES;
   Q.  DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIES THAT SUPPORT SAFETY AND
 SECURITY OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, PERSONAL IDENTITY, PROPERTY  AND  PHYS-
 ICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH WHEN OPERATING IN THE DIGITAL WORLD;
   R.  IDENTIFYING  TYPES  OF  CYBERBULLYING AND DEVELOPING STRATEGIES TO
 COMBAT CYBERBULLYING AND HARASSMENT; AND
   S. ANY ADDITIONAL MEDIA LITERACY STANDARDS OUTLINED IN  STATE  DEPART-
 MENT PUBLICATIONS OR IN THE CODES, RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE STATE OF
 NEW YORK, AS DEEMED NECESSARY.
   4. THE COMMISSIONER, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE REGENTS, SHALL UPDATE THE
 NEW  YORK  STATE  PROFESSIONAL  TEACHING  STANDARDS TO INCORPORATE MEDIA
 LITERACY AND EDUCATE LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALISTS AND TEACHERS ON THE RELE-
 VANT STANDARDS OF MEDIA LITERACY SO THAT LIBRARY MEDIA  SPECIALISTS  AND
 S. 8215                             3
 
 TEACHERS  CAN  EFFECTIVELY INCORPORATE SUCH STANDARDS INTO THEIR CURRIC-
 ULUMS.
   5.  THE  COMMISSIONER, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE REGENTS, SHALL ANNUALLY
 REVIEW THE MEDIA LITERACY STANDARDS SET FORTH IN THIS SECTION TO  ENSURE
 SUCH  STANDARDS CAPTURE THE FULL RANGE OF SKILLS, EXPERIENCES AND COMPE-
 TENCIES THAT RESEARCH INDICATES IS NECESSARY  FOR  MEDIA  LITERACY,  AND
 SHALL UPDATE SUCH STANDARDS AS NECESSARY.
   6.  THE MEDIA LITERACY STANDARDS SET FORTH IN THIS SECTION SHALL SERVE
 AS AN OVERVIEW OF THE STATE'S INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO MEDIA LITER-
 ACY EDUCATION AND SHALL EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF MEDIA  LITERACY  FOR
 CIVIC READINESS.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.