Credit By Exam/exam For Acceleration Information
Credit by exam (CBE) is available for students who failed a course and can be taken only for an original credit.
A student in grades 6‐12 will be given credit for an academic subject if the student scores 70% or above on each of the criterion‐referenced examinations for the applicable course. Credit will be given and the examination score will be entered on the student’s transcript.
It is not recommended to gain credit by such an examination if the course grade is less than 60% in the course failed. Students may not attempt to earn credit by examination for a specific high school course more than two times.
Students who have already earned a credit for a specific high school course cannot take CBE to pull up her/his GPA.
Exam for acceleration (EA) is available for students who want to skip each of the following areas: English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.
To earn a credit students need to score 80% or above for EA.
If a student scores 80% or above (for acceleration) or 70% or above (for recovery) on the credit-by-exam (CBE), credit toward high school graduation is awarded. Typically, there is one exam per semester (A for the first semester, B for the second) so each exam earns 0.5 credit. A student can only attempt to earn credit for a course by CBE once.
Students may take a specific examination only once during each window. Students may not attempt to earn credit by examination for a specific high school course more than two times.
Credits obtained through EA (without instruction) will not be calculated for GPA and class rank.
Procedure
Students are required to register for CBE/EA at least one month before the first day of testing (or CBE/EA window). Parents/Students need a counselor's (and/or Campus CBE coordinator's) approval to order a CBE. Once approved, parents/students pay a fee (only for credit recovery/fee subject to change) per semester course. There is no fee for taking the Exam for Acceleration.
No Prior Instruction Credit Exams
Students who have had no prior instruction in a course will be awarded credit for the applicable course if the student receives one of the following scores:
Three or higher on an AP exam
A scaled score of 50 or higher on a CLEP exam
Credits obtained through AP or CLEP exams will not be calculated for GPA or class rank.
Additional Information
HSI-Katy will not accept scores of testing completed outside of our campus scheduled testing window without prior written approval from his/her assigned counselor and campus testing coordinator.
The student is only allowed one attempt at a course exam.
Credit-by-exams are typically divided into two semesters labeled with an A for the first semester and a B for the second semester. To accelerate to the next course earning full credit, students must perform satisfactorily in BOTH semesters (e.g. two CBEs (A and B)). For example, if a student took and passed the ALG2A CBE but did not pass the ALG2B CBE, he/she will NOT receive a credit for first-semester Algebra II (e.g. 0.5 credits).
All sessions are to be tested out of the following school year. The deadline to complete a test is July 25th for the upcoming school year. The deadline to register is no later than about a month before the due date of each test.
A ‘No Show’ is considered an attempt for a CBE score. Students who do not appear for their scheduled exam are not eligible to register for the same exam in the same school year.
Students can test multiple subjects in one session, they just cannot take multiple levels of the same subject in one session.
L.O.T.E., Art, and P.E. – No CBE/EA Testing will be offered. L.O.T.E. Art and P.E. courses must be taken on the campus.