High School All Courses Acceleration

Without Prior Instruction

The District will give a student in grades 6-12 credit for a high school course in which the student has received no prior instruction if the student scores: 

  • a three or higher on a College Board advanced placement examination that has been approved by the school district board of trustees for the applicable course;

  • * a scaled score of 50 or higher on an examination administered through the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) and approved by the school district board of trustees for the applicable course, or

  • 80% on any other criterion-referenced test approved by the school district board of trustees for the applicable course. (Information is from House Bill 2694/Senate Bill 1365)

 * CISD does not provide CLEP testing. 

Credit by Exam/Transcript

  • For students entering grade 10 before 2009-2010: If credit by exam is awarded, it shall be entered on the transcript but no grade points will be earned for the course; it will not be counted toward the student's cumulative grade point average.

  • For students entering grade 10 after 2009-2010: If credit by exam is awarded, it shall be entered on the transcript as a Level II course. Grade points will be earned, and it will be counted toward the student's cumulative grade point average. (EIC Local)

Credit by Exam (CBE) Guidelines

  • A Credit by Exam may not be taken more than two times in the same subject area.

  • If a student fails to earn credit by examination for a 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. (House Bill 2694/Senate Bill 1365)

  • Regardless of the testing date for a CBE for acceleration, placement in a new course will only take place at the beginning of a school year, or the beginning of a semester for a semester course.

For a list of offered Credit by Exam for acceleration courses (exception - foreign language), please visit the University of Texas CBE site. For foreign language Credit by Exam for acceleration, the STAMP 4S and WorldSpeak Avant assessments are used. The following languages are available: Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Chin (Hakha), Czech, English, Filipino (Tagalog), French, German, Haitian-Creole, Hindi, Hmong, Ilocano, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional and Simplified), Polish, Portuguese (Brazalian), Russian, Samoan, Somali Maay Maay, Somali Maxaa, Spanish, Tamil, Telugu, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Yup'ik. For more information about STAMP 4S and WorldSpeak, please visit the Avant Assessment website. 

To register for a Credit by Exam, please contact your campus counselor. 

PLEASE NOTE:  Credit by Exam assessments given during the school year will take place after school. Three hours is allowed for each exam. If taking two exams, the learner must be present two evenings. If taking one exam, the learner must be present on the first night of testing during the testing dates. Please see the district testing calendar for testing dates.

CBE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

This document must be read by the parent before signing the CBE registration form.