Designing Instruction that Supports Information Literacy Instruction: Georgia's New K-12 ELA Standards
Type of Presentation
Individual paper/presentation
Target Audience
K-12
Second Target Audience
Higher Education
Location
Skidaway Meeting Room
Relevance
This proposal presents a thorough examination of the implications of the new Georgia K-12 English language arts standards for teaching information literacy in middle school classrooms.
Proposal
The implementation of Georgia’s new K-12 English language arts (ELA) standards in the 2025-2026 school year has shifted the landscape of information literacy instruction in middle school classrooms. The new standards, released in 2023, reflect a research-based approach to teaching literacy. These standards replaced the Georgia Standards of Excellence which retired after the 2024-2025 school year and do not resemble the Common Core State Standards. This presentation will explore significant components of information literacy instruction referenced in the new Georgia K-12 standards for grades 6-8.
A content analysis of the new standards will investigate specific guidance provided to educators for implementing information literacy in middle school English language arts classrooms. The overall expectation, according to the new ELA standards for grade 8, is that “Through focused research and inquiry, students determine source credibility, synthesize information, and integrate evidence to support their thinking. Academic conversations, collaborative projects, and formal presentations help students communicate with confidence, clarity, and purpose” (Georgia’s K–12 English Language Arts (ELA) Standards). The term information literacy is not directly referenced in the new standards. Instead, it is interwoven into domains such as Foundations, through the science of reading; Practices, by means of collaborative discussions, reading and writing; and Texts, through the analysis of different types of texts.
The presentation will offer insights on how middle school teachers should design instruction to help students locate and synthesize information from a variety of texts and evaluate those sources critically for relevance and bias. The introduction of the concept of multimodal texts or diverse information formats such as movies, videos, podcasts, paintings, news articles, and newscasts will also be addressed. The presentation will conclude with recommendations for possible professional development for teachers for designing and implementing lessons that address this critical 21st century skill in their middle school classrooms.
Short Description
This presentation will explore significant components of information literacy instruction referenced in the new Georgia K-12 standards for grades 6-8. A content analysis of the new standards will be conducted to investigate specific guidance provided to educators for implementing information literacy in middle school English language arts classrooms, in the areas of locating and evaluating information, media literacy, and textual analysis.
Keywords
Information literacy, student agency, 21st century skills
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Fordyce, Althea, "Designing Instruction that Supports Information Literacy Instruction: Georgia's New K-12 ELA Standards" (2026). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 22.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2026/2026/22
Designing Instruction that Supports Information Literacy Instruction: Georgia's New K-12 ELA Standards
Skidaway Meeting Room
The implementation of Georgia’s new K-12 English language arts (ELA) standards in the 2025-2026 school year has shifted the landscape of information literacy instruction in middle school classrooms. The new standards, released in 2023, reflect a research-based approach to teaching literacy. These standards replaced the Georgia Standards of Excellence which retired after the 2024-2025 school year and do not resemble the Common Core State Standards. This presentation will explore significant components of information literacy instruction referenced in the new Georgia K-12 standards for grades 6-8.
A content analysis of the new standards will investigate specific guidance provided to educators for implementing information literacy in middle school English language arts classrooms. The overall expectation, according to the new ELA standards for grade 8, is that “Through focused research and inquiry, students determine source credibility, synthesize information, and integrate evidence to support their thinking. Academic conversations, collaborative projects, and formal presentations help students communicate with confidence, clarity, and purpose” (Georgia’s K–12 English Language Arts (ELA) Standards). The term information literacy is not directly referenced in the new standards. Instead, it is interwoven into domains such as Foundations, through the science of reading; Practices, by means of collaborative discussions, reading and writing; and Texts, through the analysis of different types of texts.
The presentation will offer insights on how middle school teachers should design instruction to help students locate and synthesize information from a variety of texts and evaluate those sources critically for relevance and bias. The introduction of the concept of multimodal texts or diverse information formats such as movies, videos, podcasts, paintings, news articles, and newscasts will also be addressed. The presentation will conclude with recommendations for possible professional development for teachers for designing and implementing lessons that address this critical 21st century skill in their middle school classrooms.
