Educational acceleration is one of the cornerstones of exceptional gifted education methods, with more analysis supporting this involvement than any other in the literary works on gifted individuals. Research from the National Association of Gifted Children or NAGC shows that all forms of properly applied acceleration strategies for intellectually blessed and educationally skilled students result in academic benefits and positive results. These research-based best methods include grade skipping, telescopic, early entrance into pre-school or higher education, credit by exam, and acceleration in content areas through such programs as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate at the secondary school stage.
Credit by Exam is commonly practiced at the college stage. The College-Level Examination Program or CLEP gives a college student the chance to receive higher education credit for what is already known by earning qualifying ratings on any of 34 exams. Most colleges allow credit score for CLEP exams, but not all. There are 2,900 schools that allow credit for CLEP and each of them sets its own CLEP policy. Each institution decides for which exam credit is awarded, the ratings required and how much credit score will be granted.
For some gifted students, taking an occasional AP or “honors” or “gifted” class may not be enough. Credit by Exam provides a way for pre-school through fifth grade students to take a test to progress one grade stage. For junior high school and high school kids, Credit by Exam provides advanced students an opportunity to earn credit score in a course that they have not taken in school, yet know the material well enough to “test out” of the class. By doing so, the student moves to the next stage (and more challenging) course. Not all school regions provide Credit by Exam and even if they do, it usually is not commonly marketed or advertised. What does your district offer?