Credit by Exam

• Credit by examination (CBE) is one method for students to demonstrate proficiency in grade-level or course content. NISD uses exams purchased through Texas Tech University K12 to evaluate a student’s mastery of Texas standards for a given subject. 
• Students in elementary schools may be accelerated one grade level based on results on a CBE assessment(s). 
• Secondary students may be accelerated and/or earn course credit towards graduation requirements.

• All students currently enrolled in NISD are eligible and the NISD student ID# is required to register for CBE.
• Students who have completed a grade/course in a non-accredited school or through home school may use an alternative validation of credit process rather than going through the NISD Credit-by-Exam process. Check with the Executive Directors of Secondary/ Elementary Education or your school counselor for more detailed information.
• Students are only eligible to apply for exams for which all prerequisite courses have been met according to the NISD Course Catalog & TEA (see your Campus Counselor for more information).
• Special consideration needs to be made for magnet students & student athletes. Acceleration and/or scores earned through CBE will impact the student’s GPA and/or the course schedule. NISD recommends that any magnet student that wishes to continue on their magnet program path attain their credits through their traditional magnet program pathway, rather than through CBE. See your Campus Counselor for more information. NISD recommends that any student athlete with a potential to receive an NCAA scholarship attain their credits through a traditional course, rather than through CBE. Click HERE for more details on NCAA guidelines.

Yes. However, if the student has failed a grade level or course due to absences, a campus committee made up of a campus administrator, the teacher of the course or grade level, and a counselor must approve the CBE testing. This option is only available at the secondary level as recovery of the credit.

• Check the CBE testing schedule on the NISD website.
• It is possible to test out of one entire grade level in Grades 1-8; and subject areas for Grades 9-12 listed in Chapter 74 of SB1. 
• Students may not take a CBE test to try to attain a higher grade on a course or CBE they have previously passed. 
• CBE is not available for students to receive honors-level and/or or AP credit.

• Yes. Students who are eligible to enter kindergarten (age 5 on or before September 1), may be “accelerated” and placed in the first grade by meeting the required score of 80% or higher on both the Kindergarten math and language arts exams. (TEC29.151 and 42.003(d) age) / 28.002(1) required curriculum)
• The same application form for CBE should be completed for these students, who must be registered/ pre-registered in the district (NISD student ID# required). Students who have completed kindergarten in a public school in another state or in a DoD (Department of Defense) school are eligible to attend Grade 1 without any Credit-by-Exam testing (documentation required).
• Kindergarten CBE sessions will be proctored by District personnel during the Summer prior to the start of the new school year.

• There are no initial charges to the student and/or parent. However, if a parent requests an alternative examination (retest), then the parent will have to order and pay for the exam which the test provider or district may administer. 
• The district will recognize results of a test purchased by the parent or student from The University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University, or College Board Advanced Placement (secondary only). 

• Acceleration applies to students attempting to test out of a grade level or course without having had any prior instruction. 
  • Kinder - 8th grade students may only accelerate out of one entire grade level and must score an 80% or higher on each individual exam. 
  • 1st-5th grade: Student’s attempting to accelerate out of the 1st-5th grade level, must choose two (2) test dates. The first session includes 2 exams (Math and Science) and students must score an 80% or higher on both exams to continue testing. If applicable, English Language Arts and Social Studies will then be taken at the second test session. Students must score 80% or higher in all four subject areas (math, social studies, language arts, science) to accelerate out of a grade level.
  • 6th-8th grade: Student’s attempting to accelerate out of the 6th-8th grade level & are currently enrolled in Advanced Math need to choose three (3) test dates, one date per each subject: Social Studies A/B, Lang.Arts A/B, & Science A/B. If the student is currently enrolled in an on-level math course, please choose four (4) test dates (Math A/B, Social Studies A/B, Lang.Arts A/B, & Science A/B). Each test date will include 2 exams (A & B semester). 
  • Elementary & Middle school acceleration into a new grade level will only occur at the beginning of the school year. Mid-year and End-of-year acceleration is not allowed, therefore students will become eligible for acceleration at the beginning of the following school year.
  • Students are only eligible to apply for exams for which all prerequisite courses have been met according to the NISD Course Catalog & TEA (see your Campus Counselor for more information).
• Validation applies to students needing to validate credit from homeschool or non-accredited private/public school (proof required). A score of 70% or higher is required on each individual exam.
• Recovery applies to students trying to recover credit for a failed course (proof required). A score of 70% or higher is required on each individual exam. 

Yes. Except for purposes of validation of non-accredited schooling, a student may earn a total of five (5) high school credits to be counted toward graduation requirements.

• By signing the application, the parent/guardian agrees to accept passing grades earned on Credit-by-Exam tests (80% or higher for acceleration; 70% or higher for validation or recovery) unless parent/guardian submits a rejection letter to the NISD Testing Office and campus via email within 90 days of being notified of the scores. In this case, the grade will not be reflected on the student’s transcript, nor will it be used when calculating the student’s GPA.
• Passing scores are maintained in the student record and, at the high school level, these scores are posted to the student’s transcript and are used in computing the student’s grade point average. Honors or AP credits are not awarded via CBE.

• A student is only permitted two total attempts at earning a credit through CBE in a given subject. These attempts may include a CBE administered by NISD or alternate tests provided at parent expense, from The University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University; or College Board Advanced Placement (secondary only). 
• 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 the course in accordance with the school district’s prescribed course sequence, the student must satisfactorily complete the course to receive credit.
• Per TAC §74.24 a student may take a specific examination only once during each testing window (Jan 1-Mar 31, Apr 1-June 30, July 1-Sept 30, Oct 1-Dec 31).
• If a parent requests an alternative examination (retest), then the parent will have to order and pay for the exam on their own, through TTU K12 online or UT HS online, which the test provider or district may administer. 

• Yes, a student may take a maximum of two (2) exams on one test date. 
• Kindergarten students will take Mathematics and Language Arts.
• 1st-5th grade students will take Math and Science on the 1st test date and must score an 80% or higher on both exams to continue testing. If eligible, English Language Arts and Social Studies will then be taken at the second test session. Students must score 80% or higher in all four subject areas (math, social studies, language arts, science) to accelerate out of a grade level.
• 6th-8th grade students attempting to accelerate out of a grade level & are currently enrolled in Advanced Math need to take 6 exams in 3 subject areas, Social Studies A/B, Lang.Arts A/B, & Science A/B. If the student is currently enrolled in an on-level math course, the student will need to take 8 exams in 4 subject areas (Math A/B, Social Studies A/B, Lang.Arts A/B, & Science A/B). 
• For HS credit courses, the District grants credit by semester, therefore a secondary student must test out of courses by semester and may take only two semester tests per test date (ex: Geometry A and Geometry B are considered 2 separate exams)

• For acceleration, a grade of 80% or higher, per subject or semester course is required to award credit. 
• For validation or recovery of credit, a grade of 70% or higher is required to award credit.
• Scoring for all exams are conducted by the University and may take up to 4 weeks to return to Northside ISD.

For students who earn credit for a subject through Credit-by-Exam for acceleration and scored 80% or higher, the school district will enter the examination score on the students transcript; and the student is exempt from taking an end-of-course assessment for that subject, if one is offered (TEC 74.24(c)(11)

• Northside ISD uses exams purchased from Texas Tech University K-12 to evaluate a student’s mastery of Texas standards for a given subject or discipline. 
• TTU K-12 Study Guides: https://www.depts.ttu.edu/k12/cbe/review/