Credit By Exam

General Information

Our district offers administrations of Credit-by-Exams (CBE) to students currently enrolled in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD a minimum of four times throughout the year in the fall, winter, spring (Seniors only), and during the summer. Opportunities to test occur at least once during each test window.

CBE for acceleration is available to students in Kindergarten – Grade 12. Students attempting CBE for acceleration must score 80% or above to earn credit for grade level/subject area coursework. CBE for credit recovery is available to high school students who have received prior instruction evident by a grade recorded on his/her transcript. Students attempting CBE for credit recovery must score 70% or above to earn high school credit.

Final results are posted in Parent Self Serve and made available to counselors 3-4 weeks after testing. 

Current Guidelines

There is no charge for CBE for acceleration or credit recovery. If a parent requests an alternative examination, the district may administer and recognize results of a test purchased by the parent or student from Texas Tech University or the University of Texas at Austin.

Testing Guidelines
Students may take a specific grade level/subject area CBE only once during each testing window.

  • A child who is five years old at the beginning of the school year can be assigned initially to grade 1 rather than kindergarten based on qualifying CBE scores earned on district administration of readiness and achievement tests taken prior to the second Monday of September.
  • Elementary students in grades 1-5 may accelerate one grade level based on qualifying CBE scores earned in all four tested subject areas prior to the second Monday of September.
  • Secondary students (grades 6-12) must take CBE for each semester in order to earn one (1) year course credit in a tested subject area.
  • Scores from End-of-Course (STAAR) exams cannot be used for purposes of CBE credit.

Kindergarten – grade 8 students who do not earn CBE credit for acceleration in a specific grade level/subject area before the beginning of the school year must satisfactorily complete the grade level/subject area course in which the student would ordinarily be required to enroll in accordance with the school district’s prescribed sequence.

Qualifying CBE scores earned for high school credit will appear on a student transcript but will not be computed for determining class rank. Scores below 80% on CBE for acceleration or 70% on CBE for credit recovery will not be recorded on student transcripts. A student may attempt to earn CBE for a specific high school course only two (2) times. Students who do not earn course credit must retest within a different testing window.

Registration & Testing Dates

Students interested in taking a Credit-by-Exam (CBE) for acceleration or credit recovery should contact their home campus counselor to register for upcoming test administration.  Confirmation of CBE registration will occur through email approximately 2 weeks in advance of scheduled test date. Students will be required to provide an email that is checked regularly.

Our district administers Credit-by-Exams (CBE) to students currently enrolled in Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD a minimum of four times throughout the year. Future CBE registration deadlines and testing dates will be published after school board approval of the upcoming academic school year calendar.

Students are encouraged to review the grade level and content area study guides available on the Texas Tech or University of Texas websites. Some high school CBE require completion of assignments in advance of testing date. Avant World Language CBE are completed online requiring reading, listening, speaking, and writing components.

Final results are typically mailed to parents/guardians and made available to counselors within 3-4 weeks after testing. No information on the final results will be provided over the telephone or by email. Parents should pay close attention to application deadlines and testing dates.

Study Guides & Resources

Students are encouraged to review the course study guides on the Texas Tech and University of Texas websites prior to testing. Some CBE require completion of assignments in advance of the testing date or other items that will need to be brought to testing. Please read carefully as this information is not always listed in the top section of the study guide. For example, English CBE tests typically require students to complete pre-reading activities in order to be successful on the test; History and Art CBE tests may require student work completed in advance and requirement for students to bring self-addressed stamped envelope. Study Guides & Tutorial Help:

https://highschool.utexas.edu/cbe_study_guides

https://www.depts.ttu.edu/k12/current-students/forms/cbe-review-sheets/.

https://tea.texas.gov/curriculum/teks/

All Avant World Language CBE are administered online. Students will be provided a headset during testing. Most languages require students to complete four sections: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The reading and listening questions will be in multiple choice format. However, in order to demonstrate a high mastery level of language skills, students are strongly encouraged to elaborate as much as possible on the writing/speaking sections in order to increase their chances for earning multiple years of high school credit. Sample tests are available at https://avantassessment.com/sample-tests