This handbook assists teachers, administrators, and other members of the educational community in avoiding inappropriate religious activities in the public schools as well as unnecessary interference with legitimate private religious expression by clarifying existing law. Participants in the Task Force on Religion and the Constitution represented…

This document is the report of a committee charged with two tasks: (1) to examine the state recommended sequence of study and the recommended textbooks for purposes of determining whether or not North Carolina's students were afforded adequate opportunities to study the roles of religion in shaping the human heritage in the United States and the…

This guide completes a 6-year American Textbook Council project on religion in the schools. An inquiry into textbook content expanded into this exposition on religion, curriculum, and character education. The guide explores the sources of moral instruction in an era when spirituality comes in many forms, and cracks in public culture are apparent.…

To uphold constitutionally approved teaching about religion (and refrain from unconstitutional religious indoctrination), schools are advised to adopt an approach that is academic, not devotional. Other responsibilities include, making sure that students' beliefs--especially those who are not religious or are otherwise in the minority--are never…

This handbook makes clear what the legal rights and responsibilities of California teachers and students are with regard to moral and civic education. For example, the duty of teachers concerning the instruction of pupils in ethics, morals, manners, religion and democratic principles is explained through discussion of the values that teachers are…

Suggests specific ways of bringing the academic study of religion into a secular curriculum. Presents general guidelines and procedures for administrators, in working with school boards, to design and implement the teaching of religion. Argues that state boards of education are instrumental in making the academic study of religion a vital part of…

This book, an update of the 1988 edition, gives readers a basic grasp of the general legal principles controlling the role of religion in public education with the goal of applying those principles to typical church/state issues. Chapter 1 offers the background of general legal principles needed to understand specific church/state issues. Chapter…