“It’s Our School
and We’ll Pray If We
Want To”
SCHOOL
PRAYER
and
the Case of
ENGEL V. VITALE
Created by
the
TIPS Staff Developers
Introduction:
The 1950’s and 1960’s witnessed
monumental changes in Constitutional interpretation. The Congress was
deadlocked. Republicans, Democrats, and
“Dixiecrats” found it difficult to find common ground
on critical issues. Thus, as occurred in the infancy of the American Democracy
when the “
The questioning of
longstanding legal precedents further extended into the sensitive area of
“Separation of Church and State.” This was not only a dilemma for the courts of
the 1950’s, but was also a major problem addressed by Thomas Jefferson and the
Founding Fathers. The issue surfaced anew in a Long Island New York school
district, where students had been reciting the “Pledge of Allegiance,” the
“Star Spangled Banner,” and “Morning prayer” for decades.
In 1962, these precedents were tested
by petitioners in the New Hyde Park Union Free School District of New York. The
State of
“Almighty God, we acknowledge
our dependence upon Thee, and we beg
Thy blessing upon us, our parents,
our teachers and our Country.”
The State believed this prayer was a statement of “moral and
spiritual training” that would be universally accepted by all. Were they wrong!
This assumption created a firestorm of controversy that still remains an issue
in legal and political circles today.
The “Establishment” clause of the First Amendment came under intense
scrutiny. Its vagueness threw open the
doors of the courts for interpretation.
Now there is an upcoming debate in Congress about a proposed Constitutional
amendment to permit school prayer. The Senator for whom you work has asked you
to prepare arguments that would assist in the upcoming debate. Some of you have
been employed by Senators who favor
school prayer while others have been working for Senators who are opposed.
YOUR RESEARCH AND ARGUMENTS ARE CRITICAL! You can create a legislative precedent that
will become a foundation for American youth for decades hence and find some
compromise for this highly emotional issue. We wish you luck. The country is
depending on you!
Task:
Your
task in this WebQuest is to prepare for and engage in a debate on the issue of
prayer in the public schools and to reach a compromise solution.
To
do so, you will be working in four groups of five, with one member of each
group a United States Senator and the remaining members
advisors. Your group will use CompuLegal to research the Supreme Court case of Engel v. Vitale as well as an additional
Supreme Court case (of your choice) concerned with separation of church and
state. Your group will also use the
websites provided to broaden the team’s knowledge of this issue. In the course of this research, your group
will compile and summarize arguments FOR
and AGAINST school prayer, since all
good debaters must know both sides of the issue equally well. Your group will use this written summary to
help its Senator prepare for the debate.
Then, with you and your fellow advisors actively coaching your Senator, the
Senators FOR and the Senators AGAINST prayer in the public schools
will square off in a debate on the Senate floor, always keeping this question
in mind: Is compromise on this issue possible?
Process:
1.
You will work in four groups of five.
Two groups will be FOR prayer in the public schools and
two groups will be AGAINST public school
prayer.
Each group will
choose a United States Senator to debate the issue in the Senate chamber (the
debate, then, will consist of two Senators on each side). The remainder of the group will serve as
advisors, who will coach the Senator before and during the debate.
2.
You will use CompuLegal to research
the Supreme Court case of Engel v. Vitale.
a.
Study the facts of the case.
b.
Look at a visual of the case.
3.
Summarize the arguments FOR and AGAINST prayer in the public
schools on the “Reasoning Page” handout.
Use any of the links on the CompuLegal Reasoning Page to help you determine
arguments for each side.
4.
Use CompuLegal to research one additional case involving separation of church and
state. Does the decision in
this case support or oppose the decision in Engel. How?
5.
Use the five websites provided below (one website per group
member) to search for additional arguments to support your group’s
position. Add these arguments to those
you already have for Engel v. Vitale.
6.
After completing the research, help prepare your group’s Senator
for the debate. Do so by reinforcing
your side’s position (FOR or AGAINST),
as well as by having him/her respond to the other side’s position. Remember, a great debater knows everything to
know about both sides of a given issue.
7.
The two groups FOR public school prayer will debate the two
groups AGAINST. The TIPS staff will
judge. As a class:
a.
How did the outcome of the debate compare with the actual
Supreme Court decision in Engel v. Vitale?
b.
Let’s look at two follow-up questions to Engel to help us try and reach a compromise. Is compromise possible? Is it necessary?
Resources:
http://www.free2pray.info/court-cases.html
http://www.free2pray.info/Contents.html
http://www.mindspring.com/~careyb/rf_invc.html
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ps_prag.htm
http://www.schoolprayer.com/eduguide/positions.html
http://www.atheists.org/publicschools/
http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa070100a.htm
Evaluation:
Your performance in this
WebQuest will be judged according to the following rubric:
|
CATEGORY |
4 EXCELLENT |
3 VERY GOOD |
2 SATISFACTORY |
1 UNSATISFACTORY |
|
Respect for Other Team |
All statements, body language, and responses were
respectful and were in appropriate language. |
Statements and responses were respectful and used
appropriate language, but once or twice body language was not. |
Most statements and responses were respectful and
in appropriate language, but there was one sarcastic remark. |
Statements, responses and/or body language were
consistently not respectful. |
|
Information |
All information presented in the debate was
clear, accurate and thorough. |
Most information presented in the debate was
clear, accurate and thorough. |
Most information presented in the debate was
clear and accurate, but was not usually thorough. |
Information had several inaccuracies OR was
usually not clear. |
|
Rebuttal |
All counter-arguments were accurate, relevant and
strong. |
Most counter-arguments were accurate, relevant,
and strong. |
Most counter-arguments were accurate and
relevant, but several were weak. |
Counter-arguments were not accurate and/or
relevant |
|
Use of Facts/ Statistics |
Every major point was well supported with several
relevant facts, statistics and/or examples. |
Every major point was adequately supported with
relevant facts, statistics and/or examples. |
Every major point was supported with facts,
statistics and/or examples, but the relevance of some was questionable. |
Every point was not supported. |
|
Presentation Style |
Team consistently used gestures, eye contact,
tone of voice and a level of enthusiasm in a way that kept the attention of
the audience. |
Team usually used gestures, eye contact, tone of
voice and a level of enthusiasm in a way that kept the attention of the
audience. |
Team sometimes used gestures, eye contact, tone of voice and a level of enthusiasm in a way that kept
the attention of the audience. |
One or more members of the team had a
presentation style that did not keep the attention of the audience. |
|
Organization |
All arguments were clearly tied to an idea
(premise) and organized in a tight, logical fashion. |
Most arguments were clearly tied to an idea
(premise) and organized in a tight, logical fashion. |
All arguments were clearly tied to an idea
(premise) but the organization was sometimes not clear or logical. |
Arguments were not clearly tied to an idea
(premise). |
|
Understanding of Topic |
The team clearly understood the topic in-depth
and presented their information forcefully and convincingly. |
The team clearly understood the topic in-depth
and presented their information with ease. |
The team seemed to understand the main points of
the topic and presented those with ease. |
The team did not show an adequate understanding
of the topic. |
|
Enthusiasm |
Highly persuasive, enthusiastic and expresses
ideas with vigor and energy |
Shows a good deal of energy, persuasiveness and
expresses ideas with enthusiasm and confidence |
Not very enthusiastic and shows only a low degree
of energy and expresses ideas without persuasiveness |
Shows no enthusiasm, no energy, no persuasiveness
and cares very little about the oral presentation |
This WebQuest addresses the following New
York State Learning Standards:
Standard 1 - History of the
United States and New York
Students will use a variety of
intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras,
themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the
Key Idea 1
The study
of
Key Idea 1 - Alternate
Students
will study family, neighborhood, community,
Key Idea 2
Important
ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs, and traditions from New York State
and United States history illustrate the connections and interactions of people
and events across time and from a variety of perspectives.
Key Idea 3
Study
about the major social, political, economic, cultural, and religious
developments in
Key Idea 4
The
skills of historical analysis include the ability to: explain the significance
of historical evidence; weigh the importance, reliability, and validity of
evidence; understand the concept of multiple causation;
understand the importance of changing and competing interpretations of
different historical developments.
Standard
5 - Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a variety of
intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for
establishing governments; the governmental system of the U.S. and other
nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American
constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of
citizenship, including avenues of participation.
Key Idea 1
The study
of civics, citizenship, and government involves learning about political systems;
the purposes of government and civic life; and the differing assumptions held
by people across time and place regarding power, authority, and governance, and
law. (Adapted from The
National Standards for Civics and Government, 1994).
Key Idea 1 - Alternate
Students
will study government, civic life and values and citizenship.
Key Idea 2
The state
and federal governments established by the Constitutions of the United States
and the State of New York embody basic civic values (such as justice, honesty,
self-discipline, due process, equality, majority rule with respect for minority
rights, and respect for self, others, and property), principles, and practices
and establish a system of shared and limited government. (Adapted
from The National
Standards for Civics and Government, 1994).
Key Idea 3
Central
to civics and citizenship is an understanding of the roles of the citizen
within the American constitutional democracy, and the scope and limitations of
a citizen's rights and responsibilities.
Key Idea 4
The study
of civics and citizenship requires the ability to probe ideas and assumptions,
ask and answer analytical questions, take a skeptical attitude toward
questionable arguments, evaluate evidence, formulate rational conclusions, and
develop and refine participatory skills.
This WebQuest also addresses the following English
Language Arts Standards:
E3 Speaking, Listening, and Viewing
E3a Participate in
one-to-one conferences with the teacher.
E3b Participate in group
meetings.
E3c Prepare and deliver
an individual presentation.
E3d Make informed
judgments about TV, radio, film.
E3e Listen to and
analyze a public speaking performance.
E4 Conventions, Grammar, and Usage of the English Language
E4a Independently and habitually demonstrate an
understanding of the rules of the English
language in written and oral work.
E4b Analyze and
subsequently revise work to improve its clarity and effectivenes
E6 Public Documents
E6a Critique public
documents with an eye to strategies common in public discourse.
E6b Produce public
documents.
Conclusion:
Having
completed this WebQuest, you are now well informed on the controversial issue
of prayer in the public schools. You
have examined the historical and social arguments for and against school
prayer, and have studied how this issue has been addressed by the U.S. Supreme
Court in the case of Engel v. Vitale. You are now well aware of the importance of
checks and balances in our democratic system, the impact of the Supreme Court
in affecting public policy, and the importance of the individual’s
participation in the democratic process.
Using your own critical thinking, you have determined which side of the
issue you support and why, and you have participated in a debate in which you
have practiced and improved your public speaking skills and strategies. You now have enough knowledge of this issue
to use it as a springboard to examine related questions and controversies
concerning the expression of religious values in public life.