Assembly Bill A1624

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1624
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 10, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M. of A. ROSENTHAL, BUTTENSCHON, RIVERA, KELLES, LUPARDO
   -- read once and referred 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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03953-01-5
              

 A. 1624                             2
 
 COHERENT SET OF MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION STANDARDS, WHICH SHALL INCLUDE,
 BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, THE FOLLOWING SKILLS, EXPERIENCES  AND  COMPETEN-
 CIES:
   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.
 A. 1624                             3
 
   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
 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.