The purpose of acceleration as a practice with gifted students are:

1. to adjust the pace of the instruction to the students' capability in order to develop a sound work ethic,
2. to provide an appropriate level of challenge in order to avoid the boredom of repetitious learning, and
3. to reduce the time period necessary for students to complete traditional schooling.

Birdville ISD offers two acceleration options for elementary students: full grade level acceleration ("skipping" a grade) and acceleration in math only ("telescoping"). Credit by Exam testing must take place without prior instruction (before any formal instruction in the tested grade level begins). Students must be enrolled and attending a Birdville ISD school before any Credit by Exam testing can occur. Click here for Credit by Exam Without Prior Instruction Board Policy EHDC (Legal).

An elementary student may test out of a grade level or math course with NO prior instruction if the following criteria are met in accordance with Board policy:

• Telescoping in math (single subject acceleration in math): Credit by Exam assessments consist of one assessment for each year-long course. To telescope in math, a student must meet the following requirements:
  • A student must earn 90% or higher on an approved Credit by Exam (CBE) Mathematics test for the grade level the student desires to accelerate past.
  • A student must be recommended for the acceleration placement by a district representative
  • A student's parents or guardian must give written approval of the acceleration
• Full grade level acceleration (grade skipping): Credit by Exam assessments consist of one assessment for each year-long course. To accelerate out of a single grade level, a student must meet the following requirements:
• A student must earn 80% or higher on an approved Credit by Exam (CBE) test for each of the core content areas (Mathematics, Reading-Language Arts, Science, Social Studies) for the grade level the student desires to accelerate past. The first test that is given is Mathematics. If the student does not earn 80% or higher on the Mathematics test, no additional tests are ordered and the testing process ends for the student.
• A student must be recommended for acceleration by a district representative
• A student's parents or guardian must give written approval of the acceleration

Birdville ISD utilizes credit by exam assessment services from the University of Texas at Austin-UT High School, a Texas Education Agency (TEA)-approved assessment provider. Exams are criterion-referenced tests that evaluate mastery of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for a specific subject or grade level. UT High School provides study guides for each credit by exam test offered. It is strongly recommended that parents review these study guides to familiarize themselves with the content that will be covered during the test and what the format of the test is like. The study guides provide some practice questions that students can complete. Access UT High School Credit by Exam Study Guides.

Students may attempt Credit by Exam testing one time per school year and only during the designated testing windows/dates. Please download the document below for Credit by Exam test dates for the 2024-2025 school year. Because Credit by Exam testing must occur PRIOR to any instruction in the grade level/content that the student is trying to test out of, the majority of Credit by Exam testing for elementary students is done during the summer test dates. Any Credit by Exam testing done during the school year is for the student to begin acceleration the following school year.