ABSTRACT
Religious literacy education cultivates knowledge, skills, and dispositions that prepare students for civic life. This chapter summarizes key topics related to religion and education in American K-12 schools, including legal frameworks at the intersection of religion and education, religious expression outside the curriculum, the study of religion within the curriculum, and challenges related to teacher training and curriculum development. The chapter draws on my experience as a religious literacy specialist at the Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum, including my work advising Albanian officials as they undertook a project to create guidelines for national curricular reform. Cross-cultural engagement can yield insights to improve religious literacy policies, partnerships, and programs—as exemplified here by engagement between American and Albanian educators. Cross-cultural religious literacy and covenantal pluralism provide useful lenses for shaping and reflecting on these engagements.
