As part of programming for gifted and talented students, the Oklahoma State Department of Education requires that districts offer students the opportunity to “demonstrate proficiency in [core curriculum areas] by some means of assessment or evaluation.”  Oklahoma State legislation states:

“Students demonstrating proficiency in a set of competencies at the 90% level shall be advanced to the next level of study in the appropriate curriculum area(s).  This decision [to advance] will take into consideration such factors as social, emotional, physical and mental growth.  The school will confer with parents in making such promotion/acceleration decisions.”

Proficiency-based promotion and credit for courses completed is addressed in Bartlesville Board of Education Policy EEB (Revised 8/19/2002).  A copy of this policy is available for parents to review.  Bartlesville Public Schools offers proficiency-based testing two times each year for students wanting to

1.      Skip a grade (elementary students must demonstrate at least 90% accuracy in core subjects),

2.      Establish credit (for students transferring from home-schooling or a non-accredited school), or

3.      Skip a class and establish credit at the secondary level.

Parents wanting to explore this option for their child should contact the counselor or principal of their neighborhood school to discuss the request and initiate the process to obtain testing through the Psychological Services department for Bartlesville Schools.   Proficiency-based testing requires parent, counselor, and principal signatures on a registration form (available through your child’s school) to be processed.   Once the signed form is received, the evaluator will contact the parent to schedule a testing session and confirm a location.  Tests will be scored in a timely manner and the results of testing will be forwarded to the Executive Director for Elementary or Secondary education for review and signature.  Then results will be forwarded to the building administrator who will be responsible for informing the parent of the outcomes of the PBT testing and filing the results in a confidential folder kept at the child’s school.  A copy of the results with signatures will also be kept on file in the Psychological Services office at the ESC. 

The following dates have been established for proficiency-based testing:

               June 1, 2, 3, and 4, 2009

               July 27, 28, 29, and 30, 2009