Grade Acceleration / Credit by Exam

Grade Acceleration through Credit by Examination

Credit by Examinations for acceleration are only available to currently enrolled CISD students.  For summer testing, students must have been enrolled in CISD the previous school year. 

Grades K-5

• A student who scores 90% (for kindergarten) or 80% (for 1st - 5th Grade) or above on a criterion-referenced test in each of the four core content areas (science, social studies, math, reading) without prior instruction, may be placed in the next grade level for all course subjects. 
• Students will be given two of the four exams on the date listed in the chart below.  If a student scores high enough on both tests, the additional two tests will be ordered and a date for the remaining two tests will be scheduled. 
• Placement in a new grade level will only occur before the beginning of a school year, regardless of when a CBE for acceleration is taken.
• Before registering your child for a CBE, visit with your child's counselor about whether or not this process will be beneficial for your child. If your child is age appropriate for kindergarten and hasn't started school yet, contact the counselor for the school that they are zoned to attend. 

Credit by Examination for Acceleration

Credit by Examinations for acceleration are only available to currently enrolled CISD students.  For summer testing, students must have been enrolled in CISD the previous school year. 

Grades 6-8

• If a student is given credit in a subject on the basis of an examination on which the student scored 80 percent or higher credit will be awarded and a district will enter the examination score on the student’s transcript.
• Placement in a new course will only occur before the beginning of a school year, regardless of when a CBE for acceleration is taken.
• If a middle school student passes a CBE, and qualifies to take a course at Carroll High School, it is the parent’s responsibility to provide transportation to and from Carroll HS for courses.  
• All language CBEs are offered online via remote proctoring.  One test will measure proficiency of the language in reading, writing, speaking and listening and will award credit based on the level of language proficiency.  For example, if a student's first language is Spanish and they are already fluent in that language, they may take one Spanish CBE which will award credit for all four levels of high school Spanish.  
• Carroll ISD will only provide CBE testing on the dates published in the table below; there are no exceptions.  If you have missed a deadline or the dates do not work with your schedule, you have the option of requesting to make arrangements on your own through University of Texas High School or Texas Tech University High School in conjunction with an approved testing site.  If you are interested in arranging an outside CBE please contact Tammy Pulse at: tammy.pulse@southlakecarroll.edu.

Grades 9-12

• If a student is given credit in a subject on the basis of an examination on which the student scored 80 percent or higher, a district will enter the examination score on the student’s transcript.
• If a student fails to earn credit by examination for a specific high school course before the beginning of the school year in which the student would ordinarily be required to enroll in that course in accordance with the school district’s prescribed course sequence, the student must satisfactorily complete the course to receive credit.  (TAC 74.24 (7))
• A student may only register for one year of credit per CBE administration.  Some courses will require two exams (semester 1 and semester 2).  A student may register for one course with two semesters (ex. Algebra 1A and Algebra 1B) during the same administration, but would not be able to register for more that one level.  Example:  A student may register for Algebra 1 A & B, but would not be able to register for both Alg 1 A & B and Geometry A & B, because credit is needed for Algebra 1 before the student can attempt Geometry. 
• A student may not attempt to earn credit by examination for a specific high school course more than two times (TAC 74.24 c.6).  A student cannot take a CBE twice within the same testing window (TAC 74.24 a.1).
• All language CBEs are offered online via remote proctoring.  One test will measure proficiency of the language in reading, writing, speaking and listening and will award credit based on the level of language proficiency.  For example, if a student's first language is Spanish and they are already fluent in that language, they may take one Spanish CBE which will award credit for all four levels of high school Spanish.  
• Carroll ISD will only provide CBE testing on the dates published in the table below; there are no exceptions.  If you have missed a deadline or the dates do not work with your schedule, you have the option of requesting to make arrangements on your own through University of Texas High School or Texas Tech University High School in conjunction with an approved testing site. If you are interested in arranging an outside CBE please contact Tammy Pulse at: tammy.pulse@southlakecarroll.edu.

 

K-12 Credit by Exam Dates & Registration Information:

 

Carroll ISD uses Avant for testing all languages other than English and the University of Texas High School for all other Credit by Exams. Study guides for UTHS exams may be found at https://highschool.utexas.edu/credit_by_exam.
 

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Registering for Outside Courses

• If a student currently in GRADES 6-8 needs to register for an outside course, please visit with your campus counselor and then complete the following form for district approval: Outside Course Requirements

• If a student currently in GRADES 9-12 needs to register for an outside course, they need to work directly with the counseling office on their campus to get the most accurate registration information.