Credit by Exam for Acceleration Information

Students may accelerate a grade-level, for which they have not received prior instruction in grades K-8 through the credit by examination (CBE) for acceleration process.  In grades 9-12 students may test out of courses required for graduation. 

Parent/guardians must meet with their child's counselor prior to registering for any CBE to learn if the CBE will be accepted for acceleration purposes or high school credit. 

To be eligible to advance a grade-level or a high school course, a student must score a grade of 80% or higher on the Credit by Exam(s) for Acceleration 

Note:  A CBE for Acceleration must be completed prior to the first day of school in order for a student to accelerate a grade-level or course. CBEs taken during the school year will be for placement in the next school year

LHISD will host several CBE opportunities during the school year and in the summer whereby a student can take a CBE for acceleration. LHISD will pay for the credit by exams when a family registers by the deadline listed below for the corresponding testing windows. Outside of the registration deadlines, families can register and pay for the CBE exams.

Credit by Exam for Acceleration Testing Schedule and Registration Deadlines

2024-2025

Testing Window 1 - October 2024 Registration Deadline: September 5, 2024

Testing Window 2 - January 2025 Registration Deadline: December 1, 2023

Testing Window 3  - June 17th & 18th, 2025 Registration Deadline: May 2, 2025

Testing Window 4  - July 22nd & 23rd, 2025 Registration Deadline: June 12, 2025

Please contact your child's counselor to register for a CBE testing window.

Kindergarten Acceleration Process

In accordance with state law, students who are five (5) years old on or before September 1 are eligible for the Texas public school kindergarten program and shall be enrolled in the kindergarten program at the time of registration. A child may be enrolled in the first grade if he or she is at least six (6) years of age at the beginning of the current school year.

Exception to the age rule is made for students who have been enrolled in the first grade in a public school in another state prior to transferring to a Texas public school or have completed kindergarten in a public school in another state prior to transferring to a Texas public school. Students to whom the exception applies shall be enrolled in the first grade at the time of registration. (TEC 42.003c)

Students in state that meet the age requirement (at least five years of age on September 1st of the current school year) may take a Credit by Exam for Kindergarten Reading and Math to be considered for acceleration to the first grade.

Steps:

• Parent/Guardian meets with counselor to register for the CBE exams.

• Testing arrangements will be scheduled during the corresponding testing week listed on the CBE testing schedule.

• Testing will take place at a district location.

To be eligible to accelerate to 1st grade, a student must score 80% or higher on the following four exams for the specific grade level:

Language Arts and Mathematics

Grades 1st-8th  Acceleration Process

In accordance with state law, students who will be in 1st - 8th grade are eligible for whole grade-level accelerate.

To be eligible to accelerate a full grade-level, a student must score 80% or higher on the following four exams for the specific grade level:

Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies

Steps

• Parent/Guardian meets with counselor to register for the CBE exams.

  • Testing arrangements will be scheduled during the corresponding testing week listed on the CBE testing schedule.

  • Student in grades 1-2 will test at the school 

• Student in grades 3-8 will take the online assessment at home on an approved electronic devise.

• Students scoring an 80% on all four exams are eligible to proceed to the next grade-level. 

High School Courses

• High School students who wish to show their mastery of a course may take a CBE to earn credit.

• A CBE Without prior instruction must be completed prior to the first day of school in which the student would normally take the course.

• See FAQs below for High School CBE information

Steps

• • Parent/Guardian meets with counselor to register for the CBE.

  • Testing arrangements will be scheduled during the corresponding testing week listed on the CBE testing schedule.

• Student will take the online assessment at home on an approved electronic devise.

• Students scoring an 80% on the exam are eligible to receive high school credit. 

Credit by Exam FAQs

How many times can a student test?

19 TAC Chapter 74.24 (9) A student may not attempt to earn credit by examination for a specific course more than two times.

Students scoring below 80 on one or more of CBE assessments will be eligible for a retake the specific exam one additional time

Is a student required to take a STAAR EOC if they take a CBE WITHOUT Prior Instruction for Acceleration?

19 TAC Chapter 74.24  If a student is given credit in accordance with paragraph (8) of this subsection in a subject on the basis of an examination on which the student scored 80% or higher, the school district must enter the examination score on the student's transcript, and the student is not required to take an applicable end-of-course assessment instrument for the course

High School Credit Course Requiring Two Semester Exams (A & B):

• Courses that earn 1.0 credit will have two exams: Semester 1 (Part A) and Semester 2 (Part B)

• Exam A provides a student credit for first semester and Exam B provides a student credit for second semester.

• Student must meet 80% acceleration passing standard on both exams to receive credit for the full course.

UT K-12 Study Guides

 Credit by Exam - Study Guides | UT High School | The University of Texas at Austin (utexas.edu) 

If you would like for your child to take a CBE, please contact your campus counselor.