With the signing of a bill this week by Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy, New Jersey has become the first state requiring schools to teach media literacy to all K–12 students in an effort to teach them how to recognize misinformation.
The bill adds “information literacy” to New Jersey Student Learning Standards as a new content area, and within that, “media literacy” is required. Schools must teach about research; how information is created and produced; the difference between facts, points of view, and opinions; the ethical production of information; and the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information.
The bill directs the state Department of Education to develop learning standards by creating a committee of educators—the majority of which must be certified school library media specialists—plus teachers across a broad spectrum of subject areas and Department of Education personnel. The committee must engage experts to review the standards it develops, the bill says….