Credit by Examination for Acceleration (no prior instruction)
Grades 9-12

Credit by Exam for Acceleration is designed to provide an opportunity to earn credit in an academic course at the secondary level.  Melissa ISD offers Credit by Exam for Acceleration four times a year at no cost. Students must be registered in a Melissa ISD school and attending, if it is in session, in order to be eligible to test. A student must earn 80% or higher to earn credit for an acceleration test.

• Prior approval from the campus counselor is required. Students must meet with their counselor to register.  Registration requests may be accepted at any time during the year but must meet the application deadlines established for each testing session. 

• A student may not attempt to earn credit by examination for a specific high school course more than two times.

• The test shall be administered during an agreed-upon date with the counselor during the testing window. 

• A grade that meets the requirements of 80% or higher (without prior instruction) on a credit by exam for acceleration will earn high school credit. No credit by exam grade will be awarded GPA points.  If a student passes the exam, it will be transcribed and the credit will be awarded. If a student fails to earn credit by exam for a high school course, it will be transcribed as a no grade (NG) with no credit awarded. The student must then satisfactorily complete the course in the classroom setting. 

• Students are not allowed to forfeit Credit by Exam credit for any reason.

• Credit by examination shall not be used to gain eligibility for participation in extracurricular activities. 

• Students seeking opportunities for credit outside the testing window must still be pre-approved by a counselor, and all fees shall be paid for by the student. 

• Limitations on Taking Examinations (Per EHDC Legal):  If a student fails to earn credit for a specific 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 district’s prescribed course sequence, the student must satisfactorily complete the course to receive credit for the course. 

Credit by Examination for Credit Recovery (prior instruction)
Grades 9-12

Credit by Exam for credit recovery may be used for students who received PRIOR instruction in a subject but did not receive credit. In this situation, students need to pass the CBE with a 70% or above. Students must meet with the counselor to discuss this option. 

Credit by Examination Acceleration
Grades K-8

Students in grades K-8 seeking accelerated placement in a grade in which they have not received prior instruction may earn accelerated grade promotion by passing core content exams. Students will take four exams: English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Students must achieve an 80% or higher on each of the four exams to be promoted to the next grade level. 

• K-2nd test will be a paper-based proctored by a Melissa ISD Counselor.

• 3rd - 8th test will be ordered as an online test and proctored by a Melissa ISD Counselor

• At the time of CBE registration, the campus counselor will discuss potential placement in the next course/grade level if the student is successful with the Credit by Exam.  

• Students accelerating to higher grade level placement will only occur at the start of a school year regardless of when a Credit by Exam for acceleration is taken.