Acceleration and Credit by Exam
Acceleration and Credit by Exam provide opportunities for students to earn course credit and/or move up grade levels. Students who wish to earn credit by exam must be enrolled in a Garland ISD school to qualify.
Kindergarten-8 grade acceleration: Students may test to move ahead one grade level.
High school Credit by Exam: Students may earn credit in a course that they have not taken. Under certain circumstances, students may earn credit for a course which they took, but did not receive credit due to absences or grade failure.
Kindergarten
The kindergarten acceleration program tests students wishing to skip Kindergarten and be placed directly into first-grade. We strongly encourage all students to participate in kindergarten due to the social, developmental, emotional and academic benefits this grade level provides. To determine whether testing and possible placement in first-grade are the best options, parents, students and staff should consider:
the academic rigor of first grade
the social and emotional impact on the student
the effects of skipping a grade level on the student’s overall educational experience
After making these considerations and if a student meets the following qualifications, then a parent/guardian may request that his/her child test for placement in first-grade.
The Kindergarten Acceleration program test is based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Kindergarten students. This test is taken on the computer using the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) software.
Qualifications for testing
The student must be 5 years of age on or before September 1, 2020.
The student must be registered for Kindergarten for the 2020-2021 school year in Garland ISD.
The application for Kindergarten acceleration must be submitted prior to the deadline. The completed form can be emailed to cbe@garlandisd.net.
Requirements to advance
The student must score at or above the 80th percentile on the EOY (end of the year) Norms for NWEA/MAP Growth Assessment in both reading and math.
The student must score at least a 170 RIT score on Reading and a 171 RIT score on math.
Practicing for the exam
Students may familiarize themselves with the test layout and question presentation by taking the MAP practice test using Google Chrome. This practice test does not include the content of the exam. Please note that student testing must know how to use a mouse, as this test is not available on a touch-screen device.
To login to the MAP Practice Test:
Username: grow
Password: grow
Results will be collected by our Research, Assessment and Accountability Department (RAAD). These results will be sent to the home campus principal and counselor who will then contact the student’s parent/guardian with the results.
If your child is recommended for acceleration, it will be on a probationary basis. You will be contacted If the school or teacher feels it is in the best interest of the child to be placed back in Kindergarten.
Application Deadlines and Testing Windows for Kindergarten Acceleration
Application Deadline | Test Date | Placement Guidelines |
Dec. 1 | Jan. 18, 2020 | Testing for acceleration to 1st grade in the 2020-21 school year |
March 1, 2020 | Canceled* | Testing for acceleration to 1st grade in the 2020-21 school year |
May 30, 2020 | TBD- June, 2020 | Testing for acceleration to 1st grade in the 2020-21 school year |
*April 4 test date canceled. Make up date TBD
Grades 1-5
We offer exams for acceleration for 1-5 grade with no prior instruction. The exams are designed to assess the student’s mastery of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for a grade level or course.
Our acceleration tests use state-approved criterion-referenced exams developed by either the University of Texas at Austin or Texas Tech University. Students may take a Credit by Exam for acceleration purposes during any of the four testing periods.
Qualifications for testing
The application for 1-5 acceleration must be submitted prior to the deadline. The completed form can be emailed to cbe@garlandisd.net.
The student may only attempt to accelerate two times for the same grade/subject before they no longer can test.
A student’s placement in a new grade level will only occur at the start of the school year, no matter what time the test was taken.
Requirements to advance
The student should score at or above the 80th percentile in both reading and math on the end of year NWEA/MAP test for the grade level they wish to skip.
The student must score at least 80% on each of the four content areas, criterion-referenced Credit by Exams (language arts, mathematics, science and social studies).
For students in grades 4 and 5, the student must have scored at the Masters level in the prior year’s STAAR testing scores.
Results will be collected by our Research, Assessment and Accountability Department (RAAD). These results will be sent to the home campus principal and counselor who will then contact the student’s parent/guardian with the results.
If your child is recommended for acceleration, it will be on a probationary basis. You will be contacted If the school or teacher feels it is in the best interest of the child to be placed back in the prior grade.
Application Deadlines and Testing Windows for Grades 1-5 Acceleration
Testing Window | Application Deadline | Test date | Test location |
Oct. 1 -Dec. 31 | Nov. 22 | Dec. 7 | |
Jan. 1, 2020-March 31 | March 1, 2020 | TBD | TBD |
April 1, 2020-June 30 | May 30, 2020 | TBD | TBD |
July 1, 2020-Sept. 30 | July 20, 2020 | TBD | TBD |
Grades 6-8
6-8 grade students who wish to advance one grade level with no prior instruction may take an exam for acceleration. The exams are designed to assess the student’s mastery of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for a grade level or course.
Our acceleration tests use state-approved criterion-referenced exams developed by either the University of Texas at Austin or Texas Tech University. Students may take a Credit by Exam for acceleration purposes during any of the four testing periods.
Qualifications for testing
The application for 6-8 acceleration must be submitted prior to the deadline. These can be emailed to the cbe@garlandisd.net.
The student may only attempt to accelerate two times for the same grade/subject before they no longer can test.
A student’s placement in a new grade level will only occur at the start of the school year, no matter what time the test was taken.
Requirements to advance
The student should score at or above the 80th percentile in both reading and math on the end of year NWEA/MAP test for the grade level they wish to skip.
The student must score at least an 80% on each of the four content area, criterion-referenced exams (language arts, mathematics, science and social studies). Note: There are two tests per content. One for each semester of coursework.
The student must have scored at the Masters level in the prior year’s STAAR testing scores.
Results will be collected by our Research, Assessment and Accountability Department (RAAD). These results will be sent to the home campus principal and counselor who will then contact the student’s parent/guardian with the results.
If your child is recommended for acceleration, it will be on a probationary basis. You will be contacted If the school or teacher feels it is in the best interest of the child to be placed back in the prior grade.
Application Deadlines and Testing Windows for Grades 6-8 Acceleration
Testing window | Application deadline | Administration window | Testing location |
Oct. 1 - Dec. 31 | Nov. 22 | Dec. 7 | |
Jan. 1, 2020 - March 31 | March 1, 2020 | TBD | TBD |
April 1, 2020 - June 30 | May 30, 2020 | TBD | TBD |
July 1, 2020- Sept. 30 | July 20, 2020 | TBD | TBD |
Grades 9-12
Credit by Examination without prior instruction
Students must submit an application for CBE through the home campus counselor. The application for CBE may be made at any time of the year but must meet the application deadlines established for each testing session (below).
Testing guidelines
Students must earn a passing score in the prerequisite course before attempting the next course in the pathway.
Students can only take a CBE during the four testing windows.
The student may only attempt to accelerate two times for the same course before they no longer can test.
A student’s placement in a new course will only occur at the start of the school year or semester (for semester courses), no matter what time the test was taken.
To earn credit for a CBE, the student must demonstrate mastery of the subject by earning a score of 80% or higher.
For AP credit, the student must earn a score of 3 or higher on the AP course exam.
If a student makes the required score on the CBE, the grade will be recorded on the transcript. The results will be mailed to the parents, counselor and registrar after the scoring is completed.
Testing dates
Testing window | Application deadline | Administration window | Testing location |
Oct. 1 - Dec. 31 | Nov. 22 | Dec. 7 | |
Jan. 1, 2020 - March 31 | March 1, 2020 | TBD | TBA |
April 1, 2020 - June 30 | May 30, 2020 | TBD | TBA |
July 1, 2020 – Sept. 30 | July 20, 2020 | TBD | TBA |
AP exams* | Nov. 1 | May 4, 2020-May 15 | Home campus |
*AP exam dates are established by College Board AP Services
Available courses for credit
Below are the courses in which a student may earn credit.
High school courses
- English I
- English II
- English III
- English IV
- Communications Applications
- Algebra 1
- Algebra II
- Geometry
- Precalculus
- Math Models
- Astronomy
- Biology
- Chemistry
- IPC
- Physics
- World Geography
- World History
- US History
- Economics
- Governmnent
- Foundations of Personal Fitness
- Health Education
- Physical Education- Individual Sports
- Art 1
- Music Appreciation
- Theater Arts
- Banking & Financial Services
- Business Information Management
- Child Development
- Computer Programming
- Digital & Interactive Media
- Dollars and Sense
- Forensic Science
- Game Design
- Interpersonal Studies
- Lifetime Nutrition & Wellness
- Money Matters
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Web Design
Languages other than English
Credit by exams for Languages other than English are available through an online computer-adaptive platform called Avant. If your student is interested in taking a credit by exam for a language other than English and Garland ISD does not offer that language as a course, the student will have to score high enough in order to receive at least two credits of the language. Texas requires that each student receive two credits (two years) in the same language.
Available exams
The exam is computer-adaptive, meaning that the difficulty level of each question automatically changes to each student's level as the student progresses through the exam. This allows students to demonstrate their actual proficiency level in the language. We recommend students read the WorldSpeak Benchmark and Rubric Guide and the Sample Test before taking an exam.
Exam languages
- Amharic
- Armenian
- Chin (Hakha)
- Czech
- Filipino (Tagalog)
- Jaotoam-Creole
- Hmong
- Ilocano
- Marathi
- Samoan
- Somali Maay Maay
- Somali Maxaa
- Tamil
- Telugu
- Turkish
- Urdu
- Vietnamese
- Yup'ik
The exam is computer-adaptive, meaning that the difficulty level of each question automatically changes to each student’s level as the student progresses through the exam. This allows students to demonstrate their actual proficiency in the language. We recommend students read the Stamp Benchmark and Rubric Guide and the Sample Test before taking an exam.
Exam languages
- Arabic
- French
- German
- Hebrew
- Mandarin (Simplified and Traditional)
- Hindi
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Portuguese (Brazilian)
- Russian
- Polish
- Spanish
Credit by Examination with prior instruction
To take a Credit by Exam (CBE) with prior instruction, the student must have been enrolled in a formal course and have a transcript from an accredited or non-accredited institution. The student must score at least a 70% or above on the CBE assessment to earn credit for the course. These assessments are provided by Edgenuity's computer testing platform and can be taken at the student's home campus. These exams are provided at least four times during the year. The date and times of testing are at the discretion of the home campus.