The State Board of Education has established procedures to allow elementary students to “skip” one grade level by taking a series of exams which assess the Texas Essential Knowledge/Skills (TEKS) established for that grade level. Parents interested in having their children screened for credit-by-exam should contact their school counselor. If the school is unable to answer a question, please email the Testing Office at creditbyexam@cfisd.net.

Students in elementary and middle school may test to skip a grade level or to accelerate in math only. Parents interested in this type of testing should reach out to their student's counselor. Please visit the campus website for counselor contact information.

To skip kindergarten or grades 1-8, students' scores on the credit-by-exam tests will be examined to see if advanced placement criteria have been met. Students who meet the criteria - [score of 80% or better on each subtest of the exam] - may advance one grade level.

Students will only have one opportunity to test for each grade level considered.

• To skip Kindergarten:
• To be eligible for Credit-by-Exam, kindergarten students must be 5 on or before September 1 and registered in CFISD. Additional criteria to be considered are noted below.
• Completed kindergarten in a private school in Texas or public school out-of-state; or
• Parent request

• To skip First Grade:
  • To be eligible for Credit-by-Exam, first grade students must be 6 on or before September 1 and enrolled in CFISD. Additional criteria to be considered are noted below.
  • Demonstrate above-level achievement on the end-of-year kindergarten benchmarks given in May; or
    • Be formally identified as Gifted/Talented [HORIZONS]; or
    • Parent request

Students in grades 6-12 may be awarded high school credit based on performance on a CBE taken either with no prior instruction or with prior instruction. Students may not attempt to earn credit by exam for the same high school subject more than two times. Students who wish to take an assessment for high school credit courses need to contact their campus counselor to review course requirements prior to signing up for a credit by exam. Please visit the campus website for counselor contact information. 

Please note: Middle School Counselors will be off contract between June 1 through July 30 and High School Counselors will be off contract between June 1 and July 23.