Educational Resource Sites:

Religion in the Curriculum

Religion and Public Education Resource Center

Teacher Serve, National Humanities Center

The Religious Freedom Page, University of Virginia

Multicultural Education

Religious Movements

The Bill of Rights Institute  

Teacher Training Book/Booklet/Program:

Finding Common Ground: A Guide to Religious Liberty in Public Schools

Teacher's Guide to Religion in the Public Schools

3Rs (Rights, Responsibilities, Respect)

Religion in the Curriculum

Located at the website of the Anti-Defamation League, this web page provides discussion of several issues surrounding teaching about religion in a secular context.  Page has additional links on related topics concerning religion and religious liberty in public schools.

The Religion and Public Education
Resource Center

A project of the Department of Religious Studies, California State University, Chico. The Center seeks to foster a greater understanding of the distinction between school-sponsored practice of religion and the academic study of religion.  It offers information on educational, ethical, and legal issues related to teaching about religion and nonreligion.

The First Amendment Center, Freedom Forum

The First Amendment Center gives special attention to questions concerning religion and public education through its religious liberty programs and publications, which focus on the history, meaning, and significance of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment religious liberty clauses. Particularly relevant:

*The 3Rs projects help school districts develop religious-liberty policies and prepare teachers to teach about religious liberty and religion in ways that are constitutionally permissible and educationally sound. 

Teacher Serve, National Humanities Center

An interactive curriculum enrichment service for high school teachers in the area of “Divining America: Religion and the National Culture.” Currently, the material pretty much ignores the nonreligious worldview and its impact on the national culture in the 17th through the 20th centuries.

The Religious Freedom Page, University of Virginia

Broad range of site content relates to issues of religious freedom in the U.S. [the Constitution; court decisions; religious freedom organizations; religion in public life] as well as around the world [nation profiles; reports; universal principles; sacred texts]. The links at this site embrace a significant collection of resources, permitting a teacher to locate key source material, make comparisons, and delve into historical and theoretical issues.

Multicultural Education

“Through the Multicultural Pavilion, I strive to provide resources for educators to explore and discuss multicultural education; to facilitate opportunities for educators to work toward self-awareness and development; and to provide forums for educators to interact and collaborate toward a critical, transformative approach to multicultural education.” [Dr. Paul Gorski, Coordinator, Diversity Works and Student Intercultural Learning Center, University of Maryland]

Religious Movements

"This Religious Movements site provides a foundation for understanding how religious groups emerge, grow, stagnate, reinvigorate themselves, and sometimes die. ...We also explore groups that are not really religions, but have characteristics that are very much like religions. Scholars typically identify them as quasi-religions, or para-religious organizations... In addition to creating a foundation for understanding religion, this site also seeks to promote tolerance and appreciation of all religions without preference for any particular faith tradition." [Dr. Jeffrey K. Hadden, Dept. of Sociology, University of Virginia]

The Bill of Rights Institute

Founded in 1999, the Bill of Rights Institute seeks to educate high school students and teachers about our country’s founding principles through programs that explore what the Founders said, what the Founding documents say, and how these ideas affect our daily lives and shape our society. The Bill of Rights Institute has developed an integrated line of education programs to advance this mission. Among them are:

Particularly Relevant Links:

Establishment Clause

FindLaw's thoroughly documented annotation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Provides detailed foundational knowledge regarding progression of Establishment cases.

Free Exercise

Exploring Constitutional Conflicts takes a broad look at: Free Exercise and Religion.  This link provides a brief background, links to court decisions, classroom questions regarding the issue: When may the government enforce a law that burdens an individual's ability to exercise his or her religious beliefs?

Religion

Links to seven web sites providing information on the Bill of Rights regarding religion.

Bill of Rights

Links to six web sites providing historical information on the Bill of Rights (e.g. The ABC News, ACLU, National Archives)