THE BROAD PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT WAS TO SYSTEMATIZE INFORMATION ABOUT INDEPENDENT STUDY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS BY DEVELOPMENT OF A DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF THESE PRACTICES IN THE SCHOOLS STUDIED. THIS INFORMATION WAS COMPILED BY THE USE OF QUESTIONNAIRES AND VISITS TO EACH OF 317 SECONDARY SCHOOLS BY RESEARCH TEAMS. ONE OF THE FIRST CONCLUSIONS REACHED WAS THAT INDEPENDENT STUDY IS PROBABLY MORE COMMON IN EDUCATIONAL DISCUSSIONS AND LITERATURE THAN IN PRACTICE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN FLORIDA. ALTHOUGH MOST INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAMS ARE DIRECTED TO THE ABOVE-AVERAGE STUDENT, A FEW INVOLVE THE SLOWER STUDENT. WHILE INDEPENDENT STUDY WAS BEING USED IN PRACTICALLY ALL CURRICULUM AREAS, SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION OF INDEPENDENT STUDY IS ALMOST NONEXISTENT. FORMULATED HYPOTHESES AND QUESTIONS ABOUT INDEPENDENT STUDY WHICH NEED FURTHER RESEARCH WERE LISTED. (GD)