The purpose of this study was to analyze the current school board policies within the Commonwealth of Virginia to determine if they were consistent with the federal judicial system's interpretation of the Establishment Clause. Twenty-four federal district, circuit and Supreme Court cases were analyzed to determine the court's interpretation of the Establishment Clause as it relates to the public schools. Twenty-one criteria were developed from this analysis and the criteria were used to evaluate the school board policies of Virginia school divisions. The criteria were separated into five categories to provide greater clarity and organization. The five categories include general, prayer, Bible reading, release time programs and equal access. Approximately 91 percent of the schools in the Commonwealth responded to this study. Approximately 55 percent of the schools returned policies which governed at least one Establishment Clause issue. Approximately 36 percent of the schools responding to this study declared that they had no policies relating to any issues as defined by this study. The data from this study demonstrated that the majority of school board policies throughout the Commonwealth are not consistent with the judicial system's interpretation of the Establishment Clause. The policies which were returned and evaluated satisfied only 35 percent of the criteria within the general category; 12.83 percent of the criteria within the prayer category; 24.34 percent within the Bible reading category; 16.58 percent within the release time category; and 21.05 percent within the equal access category. Overall the policies which were analyzed satisfied only 22.74 percent of the entire set of criteria. The most successful school division satisfied only 52 percent of the criteria and over 61 percent of the policies failed to satisfy more than 27 percent of the criteria. / Ed. D.

The present study intends to contribute to the work undertaken in Quebec and in France on religious pluralism in the public sphere. The first section examines the common approach adopted by both States which allowed students to wear religious symbols in public schools. We then highlight the divergent approaches that emerged in 2004 when the French legislature prohibited almost entirely this practice. / The second section assesses the capacity of Quebec's and France's legal and political approaches to ensure social cohesion, to protect freedom of religion, the right to equality as well as the rights of the internal minorities who are pressured and constrained by their surroundings. Some considerations related to French universalism might be used to counterbalance the negative effects of the differentialist approach. Nevertheless, this comparative study leads us to conclude that, in Quebec, differentialism remains the path to be followed.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to answer the research question, "Are there areas of philosophical agreement between the contemporary world views of secular humanism and Judeo-Christian traditionalism as they apply to public school curricula, or are these two belief systems mutually exclusive and irreconcilable?" The literature was reviewed with a focus on three areas: (1) the historical development of secular humanism, (2) the contemporary conflict between secular humanism and Judeo-Christian traditionalism regarding the public schools, and (3) this conflict as it is exemplified in "Family Life Education." Utilizing the statements of recognized secular humanist and Judeo-Christian traditionalist leaders, an attempt was made to clarify the philosophical positions of the two world views by having each side in the controversy "speak for itself." The guiding assumptions, beliefs, and values of these leaders were categorized into areas of standard philosophical inquiry, such as metaphysics, ontology, epistemology, and ethics, and into basic educational viewpoints. The resulting composite world views, validated by the reliability of their sources, provided for two comprehensive alternative philosophies of education: that of secular humanism ("humanism") and Judeo-Christian traditionalism ("traditionalism"). The two world views were summarily juxtaposed according to philosophical assumptions. Areas of agreement and conflict were located. In order then to determine the effects of the beliefs of humanism and traditionalism upon actual classroom curricula, a sample "Family Life Education" curriculum was examined from each world view. The sample was chosen as representative of those in use in over three hundred school districts nationwide. A noted humanist and two traditionalist authorities provided a supplemental verification of the results of the study. It can be concluded from this study that there are very few areas of philosophical agreement between humanism and traditionalism as they apply to the public schools. They are based upon mutually exclusive presuppositions and aside from the assumptions of logic, there are no major philosophical beliefs that humanism and traditionalism hold in common. When the public school attempts directly to shape human values, these two world views will come into conflict. They are fundamentally irreconcilable.

This study is based on a narrow legal examination of the two contemporary state bans on public schoolteachers’ religious garb in Pennsylvania and Nebraska. Legal research and legal analysis are the primary methods used to investigate whether these two statutory bans meet the judicial and legislative tests under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Pennsylvania Religious Freedom Protection Act. The study applies the Sherbert standard as articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court—a three-part judicial test that courts use to apply the strict scrutiny standard to Free Exercise cases. The study also applies the U.S. Supreme Court’s Smith standard, also known as the general applicability test, which requires that government regulations involving religion must be “neutral and generally applicable,” and cannot “target religious conduct for distinctive treatment.” The study identifies that religious garb is legally defined as “any dress, mark, emblem or insignia indicating the fact that such teacher is a member or adherent of any religious order, sect or denomination.” This study examines the 123-year history of legal bans on public schoolteachers’ religious garb, with special attention to Pennsylvania’s current anti-religious garb statute was the first of its kind in the United States. It was enacted in 1895 in response to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that held Catholic nuns were permitted to wear religious garb (habits) while teaching in public schools. Nebraska’s anti-religious garb law, a replica of Pennsylvania’s ban, was first enacted in 1919 and repealed in 2017. Although at the time this study was published (May 2018), the study notes that earlier attempts to repeal it failed. The study concludes the following: Pennsylvania’s and Nebraska’s statutory bans on teachers wearing religious garb in public schools (1) failed the general applicability test under Smith and (2) substantially burdened religions, as defined under the provisions in Sherbert and the Religious Freedom Protection Act (RFPA). The statutes (3) partially met the rational basis test, but when faced with strict scrutiny, the statutes (4) failed to meet the compelling interest and (5) narrowly tailored tests.

Habilitation - Universität, Würzburg, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 332-349).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-112). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Lancaster Bible College, Graduate School, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-90).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-139).

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Educational Leadership