State ed board approves Bible literacy standards for public schools

Supriya Sridhar | Courier Journal

The Kentucky Board of Education unanimously approved standards Wednesday for the state's controversial Bible literacy classes.

The classes were criticized this year by the American Civil Liberties Union as an unconstitutional promotion of Christianity and Sunday school-style "religious life lessons," and the organization sent a letter to the state requesting that it develop clear guidance for teachers.

The classes were born out of a bill passed last year by the legislature creating state regulations for public high schools to offer elective literature courses on the Bible and Hebrew Scriptures. The bill reads that students will be given the opportunity to “explore the Bible’s relevance to contemporary society and culture.”

The latest: Hal Heiner could become chairman of state ed board under rules change

Education board member Gary Houchens said the standards are meant to guide schools.

“With this bill, it gave a framework for schools to be able to do it in a way, especially with state standards, that makes it more unified across the state and preserves the integrity of the course as an academic approach to the Bible,” Houchens said Wednesday.

Kentucky Education Board spokeswoman Nancy Rodriguez said in an email that the department cannot determine curriculum to ensure teachers follow the standards but placed that responsibility with individual schools.

A spokeswoman for the ACLU did not immediately return a phone call or email seeking comment Wednesday.

When the bill was passed, supporters said the classes would expand students' knowledge of culture, history and society.

Kentucky had more than 2.1 million Christians in the year 2000, compared to approximately 11,000 Jews and 4,000 Muslims, according to the Association of Religious Data Archives.

In its January letter to the board, the ACLU of Kentucky said it obtained course material from some school districts and had found some classes were being taught as devotional study, rather than literature.

In some cases, students were assigned to memorize Bible verses, it said. In other instances, students were asked "What are some promises in the Bible that God gives to everyone who believes in him?" or assigned to "do your best to develop close relationships with other Christians."

Opinion: Bible literacy course in Kentucky has basic flaw

More: 'Bible literacy': How can it be taught?

Some worksheets and other material appeared to have come from Sunday school websites and in one county, students viewed religious videos promoting Christianity such as "God is Not Dead 2."

Among the districts mentioned by the ACLU with potential problems with Bible literacy instruction were schools in Barren, Letcher, Lewis, McCracken and Wayne counties.

In Jefferson County, only Male Traditional High School offers a Bible literacy course as an English elective and has been doing so for several years, according to a Jefferson County Public Schools spokesman.

Reporters Deborah Yetter and Thomas Novelly contributed to this story.

BIBLE LITERACY STANDARDS

The Bible literacy standards approved by the Kentucky Board of Education are separated into three parts — disciplinary literacy, historical thinking and analyzing influences. Here's what's under each:

Disciplinary Literacy

Analyze literary aspects of the Bible.

Determine and analyze the themes, concepts, figures, places and events depicted in biblical texts.

Recognize and analyze various literary forms and genres found in biblical texts.

Identify and analyze figurative language and literary structures in biblical texts.

Historical Thinking

Analyze the interplay of economic, political, social, geographical, historical, cultural, linguistic and anthropological impacts on the development of biblical texts.

Examine biblical texts considering a variety of textual elements.

Analyze biblical texts, engaging in the skills of sourcing, close reading, contextualizing and comparing.

Compare and contrast various Bible versions to analyze the contextual influences of canons, translations and editions.

Analyzing Influences