GENERAL INFORMATION AND POLICIES

The Independent Study Program gives a student(s) a structure within which to pursue, in an academically responsible fashion, a self-designed project in any area of study. It aims to encourage students to develop their own standards for learning, to become reliant on their own resources, and to reflect on this learning via the keeping of a journal of the project.

The program is run by a coordinator appointed by the principal and advised by a four-member faculty steering committee composed as follows: the coordinator, a representative from Guidance, an advisor, and the Department Chairperson.

An Independent Study student works under the guidance of an advisor. A contract designed by the student with the help of the advisor is accepted by the Independent Study Committee. Progress is monitored by the advisor, and periodically by the coordinator.

At the completion of the project, the work is evaluated by a committee specifically created for the project and consisting of four voting members: the coordinator of Independent Study, the advisor of the project, the Department Chairperson, and a Guidance Counselor. Credit commensurate with the value of the project is granted by this evaluating committee, and a detailed written evaluation becomes a part of the student's permanent academic record.

Entrance into this program is via the Independent Study Committee; it may not simply be signed up for.

A student may not propose a project which essentially duplicates a course offered in the regular curriculum, but may pursue an advanced level or a specific aspect of a course already taken.

Independent Study is usually taken for graduation credit, but not for distribution credit; for example, it cannot be one of the three required credits in math or the one credit in fine arts. It may be taken for distribution credit with the approval of the relevant Department Chair.

Credit granted for a project may be less or more than contracted for.

JOEL BARLOW HIGH SCHOOL INDEPENDENT STUDY POLICY

Students must propose advisor-approved projects to the coordinator by May 15th for the Fall semester and by December 1st for the Spring semester. However, projects taking place only during the summer must be undertaken with consideration of the difficulty of meeting with an advisor.

Credit will be officially recorded at the end of the semester during which a project is evaluated.

A project must be evaluated no later than three weeks prior to the end of a semester to ensure that evaluation procedures can be completed and credit recorded for that semester. Graduating seniors must have projects ready for evaluation no later than May 15th.

A student may drop a project without penalty up to the end of the first quarter and up to the third quarter for the second semester. After that time a "Withdrawn-Failure" will be recorded.

A student who finds he or she must make a significant change in a project must request approval from the committee.

A student whose completion date exceeds that specified in the contract may request further time, which may or may not be granted. However, under no circumstances will an extension of more than a semester be granted. In extreme cases the project will be terminated by the committee and no credit will be granted.

Any expenses incurred by the project must be borne by the student.

The advisor of a project for which gross lack of student responsibility has been shown may request that the committee terminate the project. Such a decision will be made after meeting with both the advisor and the student.

Copies of any written material, including the journal, and, where feasible, copies of any non-written material (tapes, photos, etc.), become a part of the record of Independent Study and stored with the Coordinator or in the library.

INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS

Students enter this program in a variety of ways, even though you cannot simply sign up for it as you would a course. Ideally, the student(s) has a project idea and initiates Independent Study by finding an advisor and contacting the Independent Study coordinator. However, sometimes a teacher or a Guidance Counselor suggests Independent Study to a student. You will be expected to come to the advisor with some reasonably good idea of what you would like to do. Finding an advisor is a part of the responsibility of the student.

All relevant material explaining the program can be obtained from the Independent Study coordinator. Read this material (General Information and Policies, Information for Students, Journal Sheet, Contract form) carefully.

These are your responsibilities:

With your advisor, fill out the contract, have it signed by the advisor and a parent or legal guardian, and return it to the coordinator, by the deadline, who will let you know the date for a meeting with the Independent Study Committee.

Your meeting with this committee, during which your contract will be examined and accepted (sometimes in an altered form), is the formal entry into the program. A project may be dropped up to the end of the first quarter for the first semester and up to the end of the third quarter for the second semester without penalty. After this period, if you want to drop a project before completion, it will be evaluated on progress made, and receive appropriate credit.

Meet on the contracted basis with our advisor. Your advisor is not expected to chase you.

Keep your journal as you work, and be prepared to show it to your advisor whenever he or she asks to see it.

An advisor may request that your project be terminated if you are seriously failing in your responsibilities. Such a decision will be made after meeting with both the advisor and the student.

If your project departs radically from your contract, see the coordinator. It may be necessary to meet with the committee again.

JOEL BARLOW HIGH SCHOOL INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS

If you run into trouble, see your advisor.

If your project will take longer than the contracted time, see your advisor. Extensions can be granted by the committee if the reasons for lateness are reasonable.

Any written material must be seen and read by your advisor.

Three weeks before the end of each semester, bring the advisor four (4) typed, proofread copies of a summary of your journal. The advisor will set up the evaluation session during which you will meet with the four people who will evaluate the project.

In order to ensure credit in a given semester, a project must be ready to be evaluated no later than three weeks before the end of the semester. Projects for second-semester seniors must be ready to be evaluated no later than May 15th.

INDEPENDENT STUDY JOURNAL

Independent Study has its aim not only for you to learn, but to reflect on your learning. The journal is an important - and required - part of any independent study project. It is a document in which you record not only your rate of progress, but your thoughts on what you are doing. Journals vary greatly in length (although most run between six and ten pages) and complexity, but evaluators consider them very important in judging the value of the project to you. It is the journal that tells your evaluating committee what problems you had along the way, why you might have had to change direction, what you are learning and thinking as you work. It also gives some indication of the degree of persistence you have dedicated to the project. You should expect your advisor to review this document from time to time and to see it in its final form before it is passed on to your evaluating committee.

Here are some important details to remember about the journal:

1. Keep a log, listing date of activities, duration of activities, etc.
2. Keep your journal as you work (reflection); don't try to do it at the end.
3. Number the pages of your final version.
4. The final version of the summary must be typed and carefully proofread.
5. Four copies - one for each evaluator - must be delivered to the head of Independent Study or to evaluators at the completion of the project.
   

EVALUATION CRITERIA

There are four evaluators for an Independent Study project: the coordinator of Independent Study, the student's advisor, the Department Chairperson, and the student's Guidance Counselor.

The evaluation consists of the amount of credit (or no credit) granted and a written commentary which becomes part of the student's academic record.*

Credit (which may be more or less than originally contracted for) is granted by a majority of the evaluation committee according to these criteria:

1. Quality of the fulfillment of the student's contracted goals, as originally presented or properly amended.
2. Completeness and compositional accuracy of the typed summary of the journal / log and / or any other written component of the project.
3. Ability of the student to discuss the work done.
4. The quality of the student's responsibility to the student-advisor relationship.
5. Responsibility to deadlines, e.g. project completion, journal submission, etc.
6. Evidence of the student's control of the project and independent acceptance of responsibility.
7. Quantity of work involved, using as rough criteria the amount of class and homework time for a full-time course for the same amount of credit and credit granted for analogous projects in the past.
8. General fulfillment of Independent Study requirements and procedures as described in the Independent Study Student Information Sheet.
   
   
   
   
   

* If a project involves more than one student, all are usually evaluated at the same time,
but credit is granted individually.

INFORMATION FOR ADVISORS

An advisor for an Independent Study student takes on a task that can be extremely rewarding. The time involved will vary with the project and the student, but an advisor is not expected to prepare as one would for a class. A teacher may not act as an advisor to more than one student per semester. Sometimes a project is initiated by a potential advisor, who may suggest an idea to a student; more likely, the student will approach a person he or she would like to work with in a particular subject area. At any rate, the duties of the advisor are these:

1. Help the student as necessary to formulate the specific contract which will govern the project.
2. Come with the student before the Independent Study committee to have the project approved
3. Meet with the student during the contracted period to direct, advise, and make constructive criticisms of the project, keeping in mind that to carry out the purpose of Independent Study, the project must reflect and encourage the student's own research work, learning, and initiative.
4. Monitor the journal / log writing regularly.
5. Advise the student on any written portion of the project.
6. Be present and be one voting member of the student's official evaluation committee at the conclusion of the project.
   
   NB Each advisor is limited to one advisee per semester.
   
   
   

Write to Think and Think to Write:
The Journal's Importance in Independent Study

When and how do I write my journal for my independent study project? is a question frequently asked by students who are pursuing Independent Study. The first of these is the easiest to answer. You will write your journal concurrently with your project. Each time you work on your project, you should do a journal entry. The entries will, of course, be chronological and reflect what you are doing, how you are doing it, and the problems you are encountering. Each entry will have a date and reflect feelings as well as factual remarks about the progress of the project.

Next, you will analyze how to solve the problems and what you are learning. You will want to write down your thought process, including: What should I ask my advisor? What resources will help me? How will I organize my thinking and my project? How will I sequence my activities? What activities are valuable? How will I narrow my topic if necessary?

When you begin working on your project, you will want to describe in your journal what you are doing and the problems you are noticing at this point in the project. How are you solving problems? What change must you make? How do you think through the decisions that you are making? What are you learning about yourself and your style of learning? How do you feel about the progress you are making? What decisions are most difficult? Is there an aspect of the study you must eliminate? Why?

After finishing the project, do a conclusion to the journal in which you analyze the most valuable aspect of the study. What did you learn about yourself? About independent study? About your topic? What would you advise your friends concerning independent study?

Finally, "think to write" in your journal from the first day that you begin working and include a brief entry for each time you work or at least twice a week during the progress of the study. "Write to think" about the learning process and the progress you are making in your self-study toward independent learning. Thus, the journal is much more than a diary of what you are doing. It is a document which will capture your learning process.

Please see the coordinator of Independent Study, or your advisor for help with the journal.

Click here for the application Form (pdf format)