ERIC Number: EJ1251357
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-May
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0034-5237
EISSN: N/A
Religion in the Public Schools: An Examination of School Personnel Knowledge of the Law and Attitudes toward Religious Expression
Herbstrith, Julie C.; Kuperus, Sarah; Dingle, Kathleen; Roth, Zachary C.
Research in Education, v106 n1 p77-97 May 2020
Many Americans are familiar with the First Amendment, but its application to prayer and religious activities in public schools is often misunderstood. Religious beliefs are increasingly diverse in the United States. Therefore, it seems imperative that school personnel are aware of the law and sensitive to an array of religious practices. We conducted two studies that explored school personnel's (a) understanding of laws on religious expression in public schools; (b) attitudes toward religious expression in public schools; and (c) tolerance for different religions. Key Study 1 findings were that school personnel with more service years had less accurate knowledge of religious expression laws than school personnel with fewer service years, and more knowledge was related to increased sensitivity to religious practices in schools. Study 2 conceptually replicated these relations with a sample of pre-service teachers and found that Right-wing Authoritarianism mediated the relation between knowledge of the law and religious sensitivity, presenting an avenue for interventions to increase religious sensitivity.
Descriptors: Religion, State Church Separation, Constitutional Law, Knowledge Level, School Prayer, Student Diversity, Public Schools, Freedom of Speech, Federal Legislation, Diversity (Faculty), Teacher Attitudes, Administrator Attitudes, School Personnel, Attitudes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Illinois
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: First Amendment; Equal Access Act 1984
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A