Summary 

LISD provides five (5) opportunities each year for students to take a credit by exam (CBE) for acceleration purposes, which allow students to either advance a full grade level or only in certain subjects. This article explains the process and answers commonly asked questions.  

Credit by Acceleration Basics

• Credit by Acceleration exams can only be taken by students without prior instruction.
• Students must score 80% or higher on each section of the exam to accelerate/earn credit in that subject.
• Lewisville ISD proctors the CBA exams through The University of Texas at Austin High School (UTHS).
• The list of available exams paid for by LISD can be found here.
• Students can review the Official UTHS Study Guides and Materials to prepare for the exam.
• All grade levels test using an online format, and students are given three hours and twenty minutes to complete the exam. Time is kept by a computer program called Proctorio.
• The UTHS staff make determinations about testing rule violations, and consequences align with UTHS policies. UTHS policies regarding scholastic honesty are viewable on their website and in the UTHS Student and Parent Handbook. Violations of scholastic honesty will result in a score of “0” on the exam.
• Students can only test in the same subject of a CBA exam twice (2 times) per school year.
• Spring administrations of the exam are taken on the student's home campus. The summer administration is taken by all students at one location in June. Exact testing dates and times will be communicated in a timely manner.
• Please reach out to your student's current school counselor with questions about CBA exams or the process discussed in this article. 

How to Request Credit by Acceleration

Testing dates for the current school year can be found in the CBA Testing Dates and Deadlines article.

• The process begins with a discussion between the parent/guardian and the student's counselor regarding the CBA Acceleration Testing At-a-Glance Guide for Parents and the implications of accelerating as necessary.
• After the discussion and review of the guide, the parent/guardian must email their child's counselor to request CBA testing for the current or upcoming term with the following information by the date in the column called “Student/Parent must request testing by” on the Testing Dates document above:
  • The subject line of the email must be “<SY> <Term> CBA Testing Request”
  • Child's first and last name
  • Child's student ID number
  • Child's grade level
  • CBA exam you would like your child to take - subject and grade level, as appropriate
  • Your testing goal for your child - i.e. advance in a specific core area OR advance a grade level
• Only emailed requests by parents or guardians will be accepted.
• Counselors will email the parent or guardian a completed copy of the CBA order form based on the emailed request.

Credit by Acceleration Results

Exam results will be posted in the student's Skyward portfolio, and an email will be sent to parents by creditbyexam@lisd.net when the reports are available.

High School Courses - Only passing grades of 80% or higher are posted on the student transcript, and they are noted with a grade of “P.” The credit will be earned, but the score is not used in grade point calculation (GPA) or class rank. Advanced placement (AP) credit cannot be earned by acceleration testing. 

Middle School Students Taking High School Exams - Students in 6th through 8th grade taking high school credit exams must pass both the A and B parts of the exam to earn credit. The exception applies to 8th grade students taking exams over the summer prior to starting high school. They may earn 0.5 credit for the section(s) passed.