The Indiana Religious Studies Project records date between 1976 and 1997 with the bulk of the records dating between 1978 and 1985. The records are organized into five series: Newsletters; Participants; Sample lesson plans; Subject files; and Cassette tapes.

The Newsletter series contains the newsletters that were published from Spring 1981 to Spring 1985. In all cases except 1985 (when the project ended), the newsletter was published biannually – once in the Spring and once in the Fall. Each newsletter contains general information about the project, the current expectations and goals of the project, and discusses several current resources for teachers of religious studies. The newsletters are approximately four pages in length and have been arranged chronologically.

The Participants series, 1977-1981, contains applications, course projects, evaluations, and some pre- and post-project correspondence between the organizers of the program and the participant. It appears that the participants produced the course projects as part of their course workload. While the projects vary in length, most projects are lesson plans designed for classroom use and contain assignments, lecture information, handouts, exams, and photocopies of secondary texts (used to verify the information and/or serve as student readings). The evaluations that, in most cases, follow the course projects were written by ISRP instructors and provide commentary and positive and negative feedback regarding the participant's work. The series has been arranged alphabetically by the participant's surname, and files include application and pre-project correspondence, participant's course projects, evaluations, and post-project correspondence. In the application materials, social security numbers have been blacked out by the processor.

The Sample lesson plans, 1978-1985, appear to be revised versions of selected participant's original projects. In similar format to the participant's projects, the sample lesson plans contain classroom assignments, lecture information, handouts, exams, and photocopies of secondary texts. The original sample lesson plans are in layout form with articles, assignments, handouts, etc. having been cut apart and taped to pages in preparation for photocopying. In several instances, the photocopied version accompanies the original sample lesson plan. Folders in this series have been arranged per the original order; consequently for some years some participants have their own folders, while for other years no distinction is made between participants. The folders in this series have been arranged alphabetically, and materials within the folders are arranged chronologically.

The Subject files series, 1976-1997, contains a wide variety of information about the project, its origins, and its yearly activities. Of particular interest to understanding the development of the ISRP may be the cover letter and description (undated), along with the final reports (1978, 1985), and the grant proposals (1978, undated), that provide detailed descriptions about the purpose and progress of the project. These reports and descriptions were written by the acting director of the ISRP. Several files provide lists of participants and their contact information (participant data, participant lists, description and participant profile), while other files offer general information about the class schedules and course work of the secondary teachers during the project (curriculum unites, schedule of classes, and syllabus by track). Although the ISRP ended in 1985, the Indiana University's religious department continued to receive requests for sample lesson plans; these letters account for the majority of the general correspondence following 1985. The Subject files series have been arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically within the folders.

It is unclear if the cassette tapes, 1978-1980, resulted from lectures by instructors during the project or were recorded elsewhere and used as teaching aids by the ISRP. The labels on each cassette have been recorded on the finding aid. The cassettes were in no discernable original order and are currently in no established order in box 4, though they are listed chronologically.