Crosswalk Highlights
The Decision Education (DE) K–12 Learning Standards support the development of real-world skills central to media literacy, such as evaluating information and sources, considering diverse perspectives, and recognizing cognitive biases like confirmation bias. Both fields empower students to think critically about information, with DE teaching the applied skills and dispositions needed to take informed action. The overlap between DE and media literacy can be framed through three key categories:
- Rationality and Reasoning
- Resistance to Bias and Manipulation
- Self-Awareness and Agency
Please note: developing crosswalks for academic learning standards is a subjective process. These crosswalks are not intended as an all-inclusive list, but as a launchpad for further exploration and identification of opportunities for integrating Decision Education into today’s classrooms.
Explore the Crosswalk’s Key Similarities
Below, find the crosswalk’s main areas of alignment, along with the specific standards within each content area.
Key Areas of Media Literacy Alignment:
Three media literacy standards are representative of foundational concepts in Decision Education. These standards are highlighted in the crosswalk separately as core concepts due to the extensive overlap identified across Decision Education domains and standards.
- S1. Recognize limitations of one’s own knowledge or understanding of the facts.
- R14. Maintain openness to updating one’s own views when presented with new facts or evidence.
- R15. Take action rooted in evidence (e.g., construct new knowledge, create and share media, engage in informed conversations and decisions about important issues).
Key Areas of Decision Education Alignment:
Valuing and Applying Rationality provides the most overlap and potential for expected student impact. Seven DE standards have strong alignment with media literacy standards:
- VAR.2: Recognize, practice, and demonstrate intellectual humility
- VAR.3: Recognize, practice, and demonstrate active open-mindedness.
- VAR.4: Recognize, practice, and demonstrate a truth-seeking mindset.
- VAR.5: Practice and demonstrate self-awareness of thought processes and behavior.
- VAR.6: Practice and demonstrate self-regulation and self-direction.
- VAR.7: Create and track sustainable and desirable habits.
- VAR.8: Apply scientific reasoning to problem-solving and decision-making.
Other Domains: Each of the other domains of Decision Education has one standard where there is strong alignment with media literacy standards:
Thinking Probabilistically (TP)
TP3: Use probabilistic thinking to evaluate evidence and truth claims, and to update beliefs.
Structuring Decisions (SD)
SD4: Gather and analyze information from multiple sources to evaluate decision options.
Recognizing and Resisting Cognitive Biases (CB)
CB1: Identify cognitive biases and heuristics and the role they play in our decision-making and our views of the world.
