See the Credit by Exam webpage for testing and registration information.

Kindergarten acceleration is the process by which a student is “accelerated" through kindergarten into first grade.

A child must be enrolled in Pearland ISD and be five years old on or before September 1 of the current year in order to be eligible to participate in the kindergarten acceleration program.

No, your child may be considered for this program at a later date under a different set of criteria.

No. The exams administered for the kindergarten acceleration process are only given during the posted date. The first screening will take place within the first two weeks after school ends and the second screening will take place during the last part of June. Make-up exams are not available.

Parents interested in kindergarten acceleration for their child should make an appointment to discuss this option with the student’s principal and/or counselor. The parent must complete and submit the application form for kindergarten acceleration to the zoned campus office by the deadline listed on the form.  Forms for registration may be obtained from your school counselor.

Students registering for kindergarten acceleration will also be required to submit a $25 deposit upon registration. For students registering for the CBE for Acceleration program, a $25 deposit per test is required.  Any test deposit is refunded when the student takes the test(s). Please see the Credit by Exam page for more information. 

The screening tests are designed to determine academic strengths PRIOR to formal instruction; therefore, the Pearland ISD does not provide study materials or furnish textbooks. The tests are very rigorous. Your child should arrive at the testing sight well rested and well fed. A list of the kindergarten TEKS (state mandated curriculum) can be obtained at the following website, http://tea.texas.gov/curriculum/teks/

Since the purpose of testing is to determine academic strengths PRIOR to formal instruction, the Pearland ISD does not provide study materials or furnish textbooks. Study guides are available for printing at the following web page: https://highschool.utexas.edu/credit_by_exam

Everyone that completes the registration process will be mailed a letter with specific dates and times for their CBE test.

Kindergarten acceleration students will have writing implements and other testing materials provided to them.

Students in grades 1-12 CBE exams need to bring two #2 pencils, paper, a black pen and a calculator for some math tests. Some tests require that work be done ahead of time and turned in at the test. It is the student’s responsibility to check on the University of Texas CBE Study Guide to determine the materials required for each exam.   https://highschool.utexas.edu/credit_by_exam

Late arrivals (up to thirty minutes) will be admitted. But their testing time is shortened the total amount of time the student arrived late for testing. No time extensions are granted.

No, you will need to wait outside the testing center.

The application forms for Kindergarten Acceleration must be completed and returned to the campus office by the date listed on the form.  Please contact your school counselor for more information.

1. Kindergarten Acceleration Form Completed
2. Principal/counselor interview and signature
3. Receipt for deposit
4. Copy of Birth Certificate
5. Proof of residency

Kindergarten Acceleration

• The first screening test is a state-approved, group-administered achievement test that meets the requirements of TEC, 39.032. This section requires that the test used is a nationally normed test and the standardization norms for the test not be more than six years old. To be considered for the second screening, the child must score at or above the 80th percentile. This test environment is extremely structured with a single teacher with a group of students. The teacher may not help the students with content. It may last two to three hours.
• The Kindergarten Mastery Test is the second screening instrument. It will be administered on an individual basis and is a performance assessment. The second screening will evaluate the students reading, writing and math abilities. The student must perform at or above a level of 80 percent accuracy on all three subject areas to be able to accelerate to first grade.

CBE for Acceleration

Grades 1-8: 

Students need to score a minimum of 80 percent on each of the four criterion-referenced tests that covers the essential knowledge and skills of the respective grade they wish to skip. If the student scores at least 80 percent on each of the four criterion-referenced tests, the student be accelerated. 

Grades 9-12: 

1. A three or higher on a College Board Advanced Placement (AP) examination that was approved by the Board for the applicable course;
2. A scaled score of 50 or higher on an examination administered through the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) and approved by the Board for the applicable course; or
3. Eighty percent or above on a criterion-referenced test that covers the essential knowledge and skills of the respective course they wish to skip.

When the student receives credit for this course, school district personnel must record the examination score on the transcript.