Acceleration
Per District policy 6:135 please follow the appropriate application process.
The state defines accelerated placement as “the placement of a child in an educational setting with curriculum that is usually reserved for children who are older or in a higher grades than the child.” The types of accelerated placement are defined below.
Conversations with parents, educational professionals including classroom teachers and licensed staff members, and the building principal are essential during the acceleration referral and application process.
The Acceleration Window opens on Monday, March 2, 2026. The deadline for applications is Friday, March 20, 2026, for consideration of acceleration for the following school year (2026-2027).
Acceleration Policy Facts Infographic
Grade Acceleration
Grade acceleration is the practice of assigning a student to a higher grade level than is typical, given the student's age, for the purpose of providing access to appropriately challenging learning opportunities in all subject areas. Grade acceleration applies to incoming 3rd-8th grade students.
Single Subject Acceleration
Single subject acceleration is the practice of assigning a student to a higher subject level than is typical, given the student’s age, for the purpose of providing access to appropriately challenging learning opportunities in one or more subject areas. It may be accomplished by either: a) physically moving the student to a higher level class for instruction; or b) using higher level curricular or study materials in the student’s current classroom. Single subject acceleration applies to 3rd-8th Grade.
Decision Making Processes
All decisions regarding acceleration will involve multiple individuals, including parents, teachers, evaluators, and administrators. Processes will be fair and equitable and based upon quantitative and qualitative data that has been collected for determination of appropriateness of early entrance or acceleration.
Assessment Processes
Prior to initiation of any additional assessment outside of the district assessment plan, parents/guardians must provide written consent to conduct the assessment. Assessments will be completed by properly certified school personnel who have the knowledge and skills necessary to administer, score and interpret the results of the assessments given. Assessment results will be provided to parents, including data points required for consideration of acceleration.
Assessment review for potential Subject or Grade Acceleration may include any of the following:
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Social Emotional Screening Tool: SSIS
- Data from Universal Screening tools or curriculum-based measures:
- mClass (Literacy grades 2-6)
- AimswebPLUS (Math grades 2-6)
- MAP (grades 3-8)
- Curriculum-Based Measures (all grades)
- IAR State Assessment (grades 3-8)
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Teacher questionnaire (current teacher or content area specialist)
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Student questionnaire (interview or Google form)
Additionally it is important to consider the impact of decisions and placement on the overall grade level programming and schedules for students.
Assessment Criteria/How to Qualify
Below are the criteria used to determine whether an acceleration request for a student should be approved. In order to help parents make an informed decision about whether to apply for acceleration or whether their student is currently meeting criteria, parents are encouraged to complete the Acceleration Parent Worksheet.
