For the past decade, members of the public educational community have called attention to threats to public schooling and to a pluralist democracy from religious conservatives. This article reviews recent empirical and theoretical research on religious conservatives, suggesting that they form a group that is very large and not necessarily Christian and which may be considerably less monolithic, less extreme, less politically active, and less conservative than previously thought. The article explores how the educational reform movement's focus on curriculum standards, academic rigor; and a larger role for the state may be failing to connect with religious communities that place greater value on instruction in morality, strong interpersonal relations, and an ethos of individual responsibility.
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