But it ruled that the school board nonetheless passed muster under the secular purpose
test of Lemon because the school board stated two other valid secular purposes for its policy: «disclaiming any orthodoxy of belief that could be inferred from the exclusive place of
evolution in the
curriculum, and reducing offense to any student or parent caused by the teaching of
evolution.»
Influenced by E. D. Hirsch, he supported a national
curriculum and serious and high - stakes national
tests and was a major figure in the painful
evolution of this effort.