Shirley J. Neeley, Ed.D.
Commissioner
March 7, 2005
TO THE SUPERINTENDENT ADDRESSED:
Subject: Credit by Examination Clarification
This letter is in response to numerous inquiries regarding credit by examination including local development of the instrument, the passing score of 90% for acceleration credit for students who have not received prior instruction, and the passing score of 70% for students who have received prior instruction in a subject area.
Texas Education Code (TEC) §28.023 and 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §74.24, Credit by Examination, permit a district to develop its own credit by examinations based on guidelines established by the State Board of Education. The district must also receive approval from the district board of trustees to develop the examinations. The examinations must thoroughly test the essential knowledge and skills in the applicable grade level or subject area.
In the case of languages other than English, districts are experiencing an influx of students who speak other languages that are not offered in the district curriculum. The University of Texas at Austin and TexasTechUniversity are the only two institutions approved by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for the purchase of credit by examinations. These universities only offer exams in French, German, Latin, and Spanish. Districts may develop their own examinations in these languages in addition to other languages not being provided by these two universities. In order to serve students who speak other languages in which credit by examinations are not available, districts may contract with professors and teachers of these languages, professional organizations, or other professional service providers to develop a credit by examination for the district based on the TEC and TAC guidelines mentioned previously. No permission is needed from TEA as this is strictly a contract between the district and the provider.
TAC §74.24 (c)(1) states that, “a student in any of Grades 6-12 must be given credit for an academic subject in which he or she has had no prior instruction if the student scores 90% on a criterion-referenced test for the applicable course.” The passing score is 90% and districts may not set a higher standard for students taking credit by examination for acceleration without prior instruction.
TAC §74.24 (c)(3) states that, “a student in any of Grades 6-12 may be given credit for an academic subject in which he or she had some prior instruction, if the student scores 70% on a criterion-referenced test for the applicable course.” Prior instruction is defined as the student having received some formal instruction at any point in his educational career. For example, if a student wishes to take a Spanish credit by examination, the student would only need to score 70% if the student had prior instruction in an elementary Spanish or bilingual program, the student studied Spanish in another country, the student was enrolled in an after school or summer program, etc. The length or time spent in the coursework is not a determining factor to be eligible for the 70% score. This is applicable for any language other than English credit by examination. The 70% score is also applicable on a credit by examination for a course in which a student was enrolled and is needing credit retrieval for course failure. For this rule, the 70% standard is permissive and the district may set a higher standard.
Should you require additional clarification, please contact María Treviño, Director of Languages other than English, at or call her at (512) 936-9288.
Sincerely,
Susan Barnes
Associate Commissioner for Standards and Programs