No “Slippery Slope”? An Empirical Case Study on the Effect of Secular Science Textbooks on Student Religiosity in a Christian Private School

ABSTRACT

In context of legal battles over science textbooks in both public and private schools, this empirical case study examines student religiosity scores over a 3-year period following a school-wide curricular change from Christian-published to secular science textbooks in a K-12 Christian private school. The study found no statistically significant change in student religiosity scores for two subscales (organizational and non-organizational religiosity; p = .799, p = .232, respectively); however, for the third subscale, intrinsic religiosity, a statistically significant increase in student religiosity was reported (p ≤ .001). The study suggests that the curricular change had no discernible negative affect on student religiosity scores. Moreover, the study suggests that Christian private schools may utilize secular science textbooks and remain faithful to their religious missions, especially when coupled with teacher training in faith-learning integration.

Notes

The DUREL instrument consists of five items that measure variables of four subscales. Three non-overlapping subscales include organizational religiosity (one item); nonorganizational religiosity (one item); and subjective or intrinsic religiosity (three items). Scoring of the instrument is based on a range of 6–31, from lowest to highest religiosity levels. The intrinsic religiosity subscale has been demonstrated reliable for a small subscale where Cronbach’s α = 0.75 (Koeing, Parkerson, & Meador, 1997, p. 154). Responses to the questions that comprise the three subscales on the DUREL instrument were reverse scored prior to statistical analysis.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joshua D. Reichard

Joshua D. Reichard, PhD, EdS, is the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Assistant Superintendent at Valley Christian Schools (formerly Youngstown Christian School), a network of urban, multicultural, K-12 Christian schools in the greater Youngstown, Ohio area.