The Kindergarten Acceleration Pathway emphasizes the needs of the whole child while providing an opportunity for students in Keller ISD to accelerate through Kindergarten.

Kindergarten acceleration processes differ from those of the upper grades. Students must pass each Phase of the Kindergarten Acceleration Pathway before proceeding to the next phase of the Kindergarten Acceleration Protocol. Student must meet the criteria in all phases to be considered for placement in first grade.

Kindergarten Acceleration Process:

1. The campuses must verify that the student is enrolled at their home campus before the recommendation to accelerate a student can be considered.
2. The Request for Credit by Exam and Parent Questionnaire (with supporting documents when applicable) must be completed and submitted to the campus counselor within the first 10 days of the Kindergarten school year.
3. A conference must take place with campus administrators, counselors, teachers, and parents to discuss acceleration criteria and all developmental, social, and emotional factors for the student to determine options in the best interest of the student before exams are ordered and scheduled.
4. Students recommended by the committee to pursue acceleration will begin the Phases of the Kindergarten Acceleration assessment process. 
   1. Phase 1: Students must pass all 4 core subject area tests (ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies) with a minimum score of 90% to show academic mastery of Kindergarten TEKS.
      • Students must earn a minimum of 90% on each of the four assessments. If a student does not pass all 4 core subject tests at 90%, the Kindergarten Acceleration evaluation process will stop. Scores of the four individual exams cannot be averaged together.
      • Students are allowed up to 3 hours to complete each test.
      • Kindergarten students are allowed to only take two tests per day.

   2. Phase 2: Students will participate in an assessment to evaluate reading and writing fluency and reading comprehension. Phase 2 consists of two components: (1) Writing Samples and (2) Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA).

      • Phase 2 evaluates reading and writing fluency and reading comprehension. Students must score as Developing on the 1st grade writing rubric for both writing samples. Students must read at a beginning of 1st-grade level on the DRA.
   3. Phase 3: Parent and Teacher will complete Inventory of Early Development to evaluate social and emotional development.