School Board Approves Revised State-Mandated Independent Study Program

With days to go before the August 12 beginning of the fall school year, the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) Board unanimously approved its newly revised Independent Study plan, but not before hearing concerns of a host of parents who want mandated staff vaccines and who voiced concerns about how Independent Study would affect things like sports and Dual language instruction.

As former PUSD board president Lawrence Torres, now principal of the CIS Independent Study Academy,  explained in his presentation to the board, the recently updated State Assembly Bill AB 130 acknowledges that independent study must be offered in the 2021-22 school year.

The bill specifies that independent study programs “shall be substantially equivalent in quality and quantity as the regular course of study, demonstrate satisfactory educational progress, provide a plan for synchronous instruction, reflect grade-level standards, develop procedures for re-engaging students, and provide a plan to transition back to in-person instruction if and when their families wish to do so.”

Torres’s presentation also noted that independent study is “an alternative to classroom instruction, not an alternative curriculum.”

There are two types of programs, according to the presentation—traditional, which is designed to teach the knowledge and skills of the core curriculum, and Course-based,  which is individualized study in a particular area of interest or in a subject not currently available in the regular school curriculum.

The independent study program, administered through the district’s digital CIS Academy, is available to students TK-12, with staffing ratios defined by the state’s Education Code.

Enrollment in the program is voluntary, according to the presentation, and is not available to special needs students, unless the Individualized Education Program (IEP)specifically allows for such participation .

The revised independent study program has three new components:

• It can be offered to students whose health would be put at risk by in-person instruction, as determined by the parent/guardian of the student

• Live interaction and synchronous instruction requirements will vary based on grade spans: TK-3, 4-8, and 9-12. A-G courses and any courses required for graduation must be offered. There will be tiered re-engagement procedures, and a  plan to transition students who wish to return to in-person in no later than 5 days.

The PUSD proposed independent study structure would feature varied student-teacher interactions.

Grades TK-5 would have daily online live lessons in a synchronous setting, while grades 6-7 would have daily online live lessons in a synchronous setting with daily interactions which may include video, telephone, or email communication, or traditional Independent Study weekly meetings with a mentor teacher and daily interactions.

Grades 8-12 would have wellness check-ins daily, and weekly one to ones. In all grades, individual conferences would be held on a weekly basis to monitor progress,conduct wellness checks and provide feedback.

All of the Independent Study instruction would follow the District-approved curriculum and use PUSD-adopt materials, and the Canvas Learning Management System and/or Acellus will be utilized for all courses and grade levels.

“We take all these groups of independent study students into the CIS Academy,” Torres said. “We believe that as long as we are able to properly support that child’s educational experience at CIS in an independent study format, we will do whatever we can to help them be successful and progress.”

Torres also reported that CIS Academy has received approximately 150 inquiries “on the District Level” of students interested in enrolling in Independent Study.

“These are mostly family units,” said Torres.

Prior to the presentation by Torres, a number of public comments dealt with the effect of independent study programs on sports and Dual Language Immersion Programs (DLIP).

Board member Patrick Cahalan pointed out that independent study programs are not compatible with CIF-related sports such as football and basketball. As he explained, some schools may take advantage of independent study and “hoard” players in independent study programs, since their district school location would not matter. This would likely remain in place until either various leagues or the CIF leadership changes its rules.

“That’s unfortunate, but that’s not anything we can control,” he said.

With regard to Dual Language Immersion Programs , Chief Academic Officer Dr. Elizabeth Blanco said that DLIP requires a more “intense” level of teaching and participation from students, and is also likely not compatible with the Independent Study program.