An Act amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known as The Fiscal Code, providing for Collaborative Care Model and Primary Care Behavioral Health Model Implementation Program.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Maria Collett and 4 co-sponsors

Requires the State Board to adopt K–12 informational literacy standards to help students locate, evaluate, and use information across formats.

Referred to Institutional Sustainability & Innovation

Purpose

The bill requires the State Board of Education to adopt K–12 standards for "informational literacy" so students learn to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively across digital, visual, media, textual, and technological formats. The aim is to build critical thinking and research skills that help students distinguish facts, opinions, and credible sources.

Key provisions

Adds a new statutory section: Section 115C‑81.66 — “Informational literacy.”

Definition: “Informational literacy” — skills to recognize when information is needed and to locate, evaluate, and use that information; explicitly includes digital, visual, media, textual, and technological literacy.

State Board duty: Adopt age‑appropriate informational literacy standards for kindergarten through grade 12.

Minimum required content of standards (at least):

The research process and how information is created and reproduced.
Critical thinking skills and how to use information resources.
Research methods, including differences between primary and secondary sources.
Differences between facts, points of view, and opinions.
How to access peer‑reviewed print and digital library resources.
Economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information.
Ethical production of information.

Local implementation: Local school administrative units (LEAs) must consult with library/media personnel when developing curriculum aligned to the standards.

Effective date/timing: The act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2024–2025 school year (as specified in the bill text).

Who is affected

State Board of Education — must develop and adopt standards.

Local school administrative units, school districts, teachers, and curriculum developers — required to implement age‑appropriate instruction.

School librarians / media specialists — explicitly consulted in curriculum development and likely involved in instruction and resource provision.

All K–12 students — will receive instruction in informational literacy under the new standards.

Potential impacts and implementation considerations

Benefits: Strengthens students’ ability to evaluate sources, reduces susceptibility to misinformation, and supports digital/media/college/career readiness.

Implementation needs: Teacher professional development, curricular materials, library and digital resource access, and time within existing schedules. Costs are not specified in the bill; local and state education agencies would determine resource requirements.

Flexibility: Standards are to be age‑appropriate; LEAs retain authority over local curriculum development subject to consultation requirements.

Procedural/Timeline notes

The bill places adoption responsibility with the State Board; the statute sets a school‑year start (2024–25) for applicability.

The bill text does not specify detailed timelines for the Board’s rulemaking, funding, or enforcement mechanisms — those will depend on subsequent Board action and local implementation planning.

Bill