# Presentation: 132551

## Finding Common Ground--How Faith Communities Support Children’s Learning

**Guidelines for Religious Expression in Public Schools**
**Guidelines for Volunteers**
**Building Effective Partnerships**

***Better Education Is Everybody’s***_*** ***_***Business!***

**Archived Information**

## Religious Expression in Public Schools

**School districts should use the guidelines to develop their own district policy regarding religious expression.**
**Principals and administrators should ensure that teachers understand the guidelines.**
**Schools should actively inform parents and students about the guidelines.**

## Student Prayer and Religious Discussion

**Students have the same right to engage in individual or group prayer and religious discussion as they do to engage in other comparable activities.**
**School officials should intercede to stop student speech that is aimed at a student or a group of students and constitutes harassment .**

## Graduation Prayer and Baccalaureates

**School officials may not mandate or organize prayer at graduation, nor organize religious baccalaureate ceremonies.**
**If a school opens its facilities to private groups, it must make them available on the same terms to privately sponsored religious baccalaureate activities.**
**Preferential treatment may not be extended to baccalaureate ceremonies.**

## Official Neutrality Regarding Religious Activity

**Teachers, school administrators, and school volunteers, when acting in those capacities, are representatives of the state and are prohibited from soliciting or encouraging religious activity and from participating in such activity with students.  Nor may they discourage religious activity because of its religious content.**

## Teaching About Religion

**Public schools may not provide religious instruction, but they may teach *****about***** religion, including teaching about the Bible and other scriptures.**
**It is permissible to consider religious influences on art, music, literature,social studies and other subjects.**

## Student Assignments

**Students may express their beliefs about religion in the form of homework, artwork, and other assignments free of discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions. **
** ****Such work should be judged by ordinary academic standards of substance and relevance and against other legitimate pedagogical concerns identified by the school.**

## Religious Literature

**Students have the right to distribute religious literature to their schoolmates on the same terms as they are permitted to distribute other literature that is unrelated to school curricula or activities.**

## Religious Excusals

**Subject to applicable state laws, schools enjoy substantial discretion to excuse individual students from lessons that are objectionable to the student or the students’ parents on religious or other conscientious grounds.**
**However, students generally do not have a federal right to be excused from lessons that may be inconsistent with their religious beliefs.**
**School officials may neither encourage nor discourage students from availing themselves of this option.**

## Released Time

**Subject to applicable state laws, schools have the discretion to dismiss students to religious instruction off school premises, provided the school does not encourage or discourage participation or penalize those who do not attend.  **
**Schools may *****not***** allow religious instruction on school premises during the school day.**

## Teaching Values

**Although schools must be neutral with respect to religion, they may play an active role in teaching civic values and virtues.**
**The fact that some of these values are also those of certain religions does not make it unlawful to teach them in school.**

## Student Garb

**Schools enjoy substantial discretion in adopting policies relating to student dress and school uniforms.**
**Students generally have no Federal right to be exempted from religiously neutral and generally applicable school dress rules based on their religious beliefs.**
**However, schools may not single out religious attire in general or attire of a particular religion for prohibition or regulation.**

## Equal Access Act

**Under the act, a school must allow student groups to use the school media to announce religious activities and meetings on the same terms as other noncurriculum-related groups.**
**Lunch-time and recess are also covered by the act.**

**Student religious groups at public secondary schools receiving federal funds have the same right of access to school facilities as that enjoyed by other comparable student groups.**
**Under the act, a meeting may include a prayer service or other worship exercise.**

## The Appropriate Role of Faith Communities in Public Education

**Families, community groups, and faith-based organizations can be great supports to the efforts of local schools and families in the community.  As part of this effort, it is appropriate that faith communities take an active role in supporting children’s learning in partnership with public schools and families.  However, they may not proselytize in fulfilling this role.**

## Partnerships Involving Public Schools and Faith-Based Communities Should..

**Make sure the program has a secular purpose;**
**In selecting partners, remain neutral between secular and religious groups and among religious groups;**
**Select student participants without regard to the religious affiliation of the students;**
**Make sure any jointly sponsored activities provided within the partnership program, wherever located, are purely secular;**
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## continued from slide 15Partnerships Should...

**Make sure any space used for the program is safe and secure for children;**
**Make sure any space used by the public school for instructional purposes is free of religious symbols; and**
**Put the partnership agreement in writing.**

## What Partnerships Involving Public Schools and Faith-Based Communities Should Not Do

**Do not limit participation in the partnership, or student selection, to religious groups or certain religious groups.**
**Do not encourage or discourage student participation with particular partners based on the religious or secular nature of the organization.**
**Do not encourage or discourage students from engaging in religious activities.**
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## continued from slide 17Partnerships Should Not...

**Do not condition student participation in any partnership activity on membership in any religious group, acceptance or rejection of any religious belief, or participation in or refusal to participate in any religious activity.**
**Do not reward or punish children for their willingness to participate in any activity of a partnership with a religious organization.**

## Helpful Reminders for Volunteers

**Do not pray with the students and families or encourage them to pray during your volunteer session with them.**
**Do not preach about your faith to the children and their families while conducting your educational activity.**
**Do not prohibit or discourage speech or other activity simply because of its religious content or nature.**
**Do not infringe on the rights of students and their family members to speak about religion or to say a prayer or to read a Scripture, provided it is within the reasonable limits of rules for orderliness, talking, and congregating that are set for other speech and activities.**

## Starting Your Volunteer Program

**Identify the area in need by learning what services are already provided and identifying still needed services.**
**Establish lines of communication with the proper contacts.**
**Evaluate your capabilities to determine what you can provide.**
**Make a plan based on your capabilities and execute it.**
**Evaluate and adjust the program each year.**

## Ensuring Effectiveness and Targeting Resources

**The key to a successful, sustained community activity is to form ****partnerships**** in the community.  The greater the number and diversity of people involved, the greater the chance of long-term success.  **

## Action Areas for Promoting Children’s Learning

**Offer before- and after-school activities. **
**Encourage early college planning.**
**Help with crisis counseling.**
**Provide tutoring and mentoring programs.**
**Instill a love of reading. **
**Address school safety concerns.**
**Combat alcohol use, drug use and violence.**
**Support early childhood development.**
**Bridge the digital divide.**

## Helping Children Learn After School

**Publicize the need for safe, fun, after-school learning activities.**
**Help staff of after-school programs.**
**Organize and sponsor after-school activities for students of all ages.**
**Teach technology and its uses for learning.**
**Support and help coordinate the use of college or high school students interested in teaching.**
**Host or co-host recognition opportunities.**

## Helping Children Learn to Read

**Instill a love of reading in children.**
**Encourage reading in your group, schools and the community.**
**Be a volunteer tutor.**
**Connect parents and tutors with reading experts.**
**Support high standards.**

## Helping Young People Prepare for College

**Emphasize the importance of working hard in school and going to college.**
**Host a series of “Think College Early” events.**
**Help students take the right courses.**
**Organize workshops to help with the college application process.**
**Build a school-college-community partnership.**
**Launch a mentoring, job-shadowing and internship program.**

## Promoting a Safe and Healthy Environment

**Talk and listen.**
**Provide wholesome activities.**
**Regularly bring together children, youth, parents and other caring adults.**
**Ensure that every child has a caring adult in his/her life by supporting parents and other caregivers and by providing mentors.**

## Join the Partnership

**The Partnership for Family Involvement in Education was launched in September 1994 to encourage and support families’ involvement in children’s learning to high standards.  The Partnership’s mission is:**
**To increase opportunities for families to be more involved in their children’s learning at school and at home; and**
**To strengthen schools and improve student achievement levels.**

## Publications from the U.S. Department of Education

**Religious Expression in Public Schools:  A Statement of Principles**
**How Faith Communities Support Children's Learning in Public Schools**
**Faith Communities Joining Local Communities To Support Children’s Learning:  Good Ideas**
**Guidelines for School Officials, Volunteers and Mentors Participating in Public School Community Partnerships **
**Partnership for Family Involvement in Education: Who We Are and What We Do**

## Information from the U.S. Department of Education

- 1-800-USA-LEARN
- www.ed.gov
- 1-877-4ED-PUBS
- http:pfie.ed.gov
**ed.gov/inits/religionandschools**