Pupil instruction: model curriculum: media literacy.

Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to include, among other subjects, English, the social sciences, science, and mathematics. Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education. This bill would require the Instructional Quality Commission to develop, and the state board to adopt, reject, or modify, a model curriculum for pupils in kindergarten and in grades 1 to 12, inclusive, on media literacy, as defined. The bill, following the adoption by the state board of the model curriculum in media literacy in accordance with a specified timeline, would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to post the model curriculum on its Internet Web site for use on a voluntary basis by educators. The bill, subject to the enactment of an appropriation for this purpose in the annual Budget Act or another statute, would also require the Superintendent to create an online professional development module that instructs educators on the use of the model curriculum and make this module available at no cost on its Internet Web site for voluntary use by educators. The bill, beginning in the school year immediately following adoption of the model curriculum on media literacy by the state board, would encourage local educational agencies and charter schools to use the model curriculum to provide instruction in media literacy.