{"id":25341,"date":"2020-02-04T22:22:08","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T03:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/?page_id=25341"},"modified":"2023-12-07T10:07:21","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T15:07:21","slug":"frank-baker-house-testimony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/frank-baker-house-testimony\/","title":{"rendered":"Frank Baker House Testimony"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
TESTIMONY TO THE SC HOUSE PW & EDUCATION CMTE, WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2020<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Good afternoon. My name is Frank Baker. For more than 20 years I have been teaching media literacy as an education consultant. I am proud to have been called on previously by our State Dept of Education to assist in the writing of teaching standards for English Language Arts as well as Visual & Performing Arts. I\u2019ve also written supporting documents for teachers and conducted hundreds of workshops with educators. I thank you for the opportunity to be here today to share my thoughts.<\/p>\n

Background: in 1999, I conducted a comprehensive study– searching for elements of media literacy in all 50 states teaching standards. The results were published in an op-ed I co-authored for Education Week. We found media literacy in every state\u2019s teaching standards including South Carolina. But now 21 years later, those gains have been wiped out\u2026.first by Common Core..and when SC abandoned CC, our state also failed to bring media literacy along with it.<\/p>\n

Teaching all<\/u> of our students to read and write are important steps to their success. But most of what they are taught today involves PRINT, not media.\u00a0 Media —photos, radio, TV, ads, movies\u2014are also texts, but are not given equal time in instruction.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s students are often referred to as \u201cdigital natives\u201d but many studies have confirmed: they are not necessarily media literate\u2014they don\u2019t tend to think critically about the media they consume.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re at a pivotal point NOT ONLY in American history, but in the history of American education. What we do NOW or what we fail to do, will have long term consequences.<\/p>\n

As a long-time media literacy educator, I am concerned because I see little to NO evidence that current teaching standards in South Carolina include \u201ccritical thinking about media messages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our education system has failed and there is widespread evidence. I am here to call attention to the failings and hope to persuade you that your voice and action are desperately needed.<\/p>\n

With the proliferation of fake news and disinformation available today, it is imperative that our education system recognizes that we must<\/u> better prepare students for a world where media and manipulated information, video and photos have become the norm. [If you read ANY news story about fake news in the last three years, you no doubt also came across the phrase \u201cmedia literacy\u201d and calls for education systems to provide students with background on how to think critically about what they read, see and hear.]\n

Our education system has failed to acknowledge that media ARE also texts<\/u>.
\nMedia texts are designed to be read, analyzed, created and re-created. But when one hears or reads the word text OR LITERACY today, it is PRINT that comes to mind, not the media. That\u2019s problematic.<\/p>\n

This is important because in for the past 3 years– the state Department of Education\u2019s evaluation of SC Ready (student test results) recommended that more instruction time be spent in both middle and high schools because those students have been shown to be weak at: \u201cevaluating sources for relevance, credibility, and validity.\u201d (2017) and weak in the 2018 standard \u201cGather information from a variety of primary and secondary sources and evaluate sources for perspective, validity, and bias.\u201d And in
\n(2019)\u00a0 weakness in the students\u2019 abilities to gather information from a variety of sources and evaluate those sources for perspective, validity and bias.\u00a0 1 Previously years indicated that students were weak at understanding bias and propaganda.<\/p>\n

Those shortcomings were amplified by a 2019 National Center for Education Statistics study which found that \u201cmore than one-third of eighth-graders in the U.S. say they \u201crarely\u201d or \u201cnever\u201d learn how to judge the reliability of sources\u201d, 2<\/p>\n

In December, The Center for American Progress issued a report calling for stronger civics standards, and for the first time media literacy was recommended as one of the 5 strands that they recommend be taught.\u00a0 3<\/p>\n

Let me be clear: we are NOT seeking to add yet another subject to teachers\u2019 already crowded instruction.<\/strong> But rather we seek to insure that MEDIA LITERACY IS INCLUDED IN ALL CURRICULUM AND that all teachers are adequately prepared to teach 21st<\/sup> century critical thinking media literacy skills.<\/p>\n

Media literacy HELPS PEOPLE SEE THE BIG PICTURE by encouraging people to ask questions such as: who is the author; who is the audience; who benefits; who or what is omitted and why; what techniques are used to make a message credible.\u00a0 In today\u2019s social media saturated world, these are the questions young people should know and be tasked with asking and researching, but I see little evidence that this is happening.<\/p>\n

Evidence DOES exist that students nationwide are lacking in their thinking about what they consume online. In November of last year, a survey of four thousand high school students by Stanford University\u2019s History Education Group (SHEG) found that more than 96 percent<\/strong> failed to consider that ties to the fossil fuel industry might affect the credibility of a website about climate change.\u00a0 4<\/p>\n

The Stanford group had previously issued an alarming report in late 2016 after studying the habits of 8000 middle, high school and college students. Among the findings:<\/p>\n

– 82%<\/strong> of middle-schoolers couldn\u2019t distinguish between an ad labeled \u201csponsored content\u201d and a real news story on a website
\n– More than two out of three<\/strong> middle-schoolers couldn\u2019t see any valid reason to mistrust a post written by a bank executive arguing that young adults need more financial-planning help
\n– nearly four in 10 high-school students<\/strong> believed, based on the headline, that a photo of deformed daisies on a photo-sharing site provided strong evidence of toxic conditions near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, even though no source or location was given for the photo.\u00a0 \u00a05<\/p>\n

The researchers described (today\u2019s) student\u2019s abilit(ies) to access information sources as \u201cdismaying,\u201d \u201cbleak,\u201d AND \u201c[a] threat to our democracy.\u201d 6<\/p>\n

Recent recommendations from the Reboot Foundation urged education organizations to do more with school requirements. 7<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The \u201cProfile of the South Carolina Graduate\u201d graphic (above) specifically cites MEDIA as one of the WORLD CLASS SKILLS all students need. But the producers of the graphic provided educators with NO elaboration or accompanying documentation, thus educators have no guidance in what it means for students to be skilled in media.<\/p>\n

Upon reviewing the current media literacy legislation, SDE representatives cited several standards they claim <\/u>already cover much of what the bill is asking them to do.\u00a0 I\u2019m here today to refute that claim:<\/p>\n

1. The current Computer Science & Digital Literacy standards<\/u> have ONLY two references that I would say are relevant: (\u201cinterpret and analyze data and information\u201d; AND \u201cAnalyze various ways to visually represent data\u201d. ) It LACKS verbiage like: analyze the techniques used to create infographics and other visual representations of information; and identify how information can be misrepresented or misinterpreted.\u00a0 Social media is referenced ONLY twice. [According to the SDE: during the 2019-2020 school year only 2200 students were enrolled in this course<\/u> which is only 10% the of 9th<\/sup>-12th<\/sup> graders who are eligible to take it.]\n

2. Most of what are English Language Arts (ELA) standards<\/u> are all print based.
\nThe standard document does use a phrase like \u201cmulti-media\u201d but most teachers think of computers here, not THE MEDIA.<\/p>\n

The ELA standards lack specificity, which teachers want and need. Thus the words media, TV, radio, movies, advertising are mostly missing.\u00a0 These are THE non-print texts which NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) recommends that all students have opportunities to analyze in instruction.<\/p>\n

Communications are included as part of ELA , but are not standards so they are not assessed. Teachers primarily teach those standards which are assessed.\u00a0 This could and should be changed.<\/p>\n

ELA standards also omit \u201ctechniques of persuasion\u201d which is an oversight.<\/p>\n

3. The current Social Studies standards<\/u> do include \u201cprimary source documents\u201d which include photos, for example.\u00a0 Even though PROPAGANDA is mentioned, it\u2019s confined to high school and only centered around the two World Wars. What about CURRENT CONTEMPORARY PROPAGANDA?\u00a0 The current SS standards also do not include \u201cevaluate the role of media in politics\u201d as recommended in the national US Civics Standards. That\u2019s a huge oversight considering current events.<\/p>\n

4. The current Visual & Performing Arts standards <\/u>are to be commended because, among other things, they include BOTH \u201cmedia literacy\u201d and \u201cmedia arts\u201d (production).\u00a0 Unfortunately, the majority of art teachers in our state have not had sufficient training in either area.<\/p>\n

5. The current Health education standards<\/u> are EXCELLENT: they include several items which contain elements of \u201cmedia literacy.\u201d\u00a0 For example in high school, students \u201cExamine ways that media messages and marketing techniques influence the use of ATOD, including e-cigarettes.\u201d<\/p>\n

6. KUDOS to the school library media specialists in our state\u2014many of whom DO teach students how to conduct proper online searches, and locate reliable, trustworthy information.\u00a0 But when we lay off media specialists, which has been a growing trend, we eliminate an important ally in the fight for better media literacy students.<\/p>\n

We have an opportunity to STRENGTHEN media literacy education in our schools, but only if we act now. It begs the question: have we forgotten and are we NEGLECTING the fact that today\u2019s young people read more from SCREENS than from PRINT?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to repeat what I said in my opening. We\u2019re at a pivotal time NOT ONLY in American history, but in the history of American education. What we do NOW or what we fail to do, will have long term consequences.<\/p>\n

I conclude with a quote from the recent Stanford study: It is a WAKE UP CALL
\n\u201cReliable information is to civic health what proper sanitation and potable water are to public health,\u201d \u201cWe need high-quality digital-literacy curricula, validated by rigorous research, to guarantee the vitality of American democracy.\u201d \u00a08<\/p>\n

THANK YOU<\/p>\n

Citations
\n1. 2019\u00a0 https:\/\/ed.sc.gov\/tests\/tests-files\/sc-ready-files\/2019-ela-test-data-review-grades-6-8\/
\n2018\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 https:\/\/ed.sc.gov\/tests\/tests-files\/sc-ready-files\/2018-sc-ready-ela-test-data-review-grades-6-8\/
\n2017\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 https:\/\/ed.sc.gov\/tests\/tests-files\/sc-ready-files\/2017-sc-ready-ela-test-data-review-grades-6-8\/<\/p>\n

2. https:\/\/www.wabe.org\/how-teachers-are-trying-to-help-students-identify-real-news\/<\/a>) and https:\/\/reboot-foundation.org\/fighting-fake-news\/<\/a><\/p>\n

3.https:\/\/blogs.edweek.org\/teachers\/teaching_now\/2019\/12\/whats_in_high_school_civics_standards_a_new_analysis_offers_clues.html<\/a><\/p>\n

4. https:\/\/news.stanford.edu\/2019\/11\/18\/high-school-students-unequipped-spot-fake-news\/<\/a><\/p>\n

5. https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/most-students-dont-know-when-news-is-fake-stanford-study-finds-1479752576<\/a>)<\/p>\n

6.: https:\/\/themissouritimes.com\/66943\/opinion-its-time-for-missouri-to-educate-our-children-on-how-to-navigate-this-plugged-in-world\/<\/a><\/p>\n

7.\u00a0 \u00a0https:\/\/reboot-foundation.org\/fighting-fake-news\/<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. https:\/\/www.edweek.org\/ew\/articles\/2019\/11\/27\/briefly-stated-stories-you-may-have-missed.html<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Frank W Baker
    \nmedia literacy education consultant<\/p>\n

    Awarded the 2019 UNESCO Global Media & Information Literacy Award for life time service to media literacy education<\/p>\n

    Homepage Media Literacy Clearinghouse\u00a0 www.frankwbaker.com<\/a><\/p>\n

    Author: Close Reading The Media (Routledge);\u00a0 Media Literacy in the K-12 Classroom, 2nd<\/sup> Ed (ISTE)<\/p>\n

    Blogger:\u00a0 MiddleWeb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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