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Acceleration Act Information

 

The District’s Accelerated Placement Program (APP) places qualified students in an educational setting that includes curriculum usually reserved for students who are older or in higher grades than the student, and is implemented by the Superintendent or designee. 105 ILCS 5/14A.

Accelerated placement includes, but may not be limited to: early entrance to kindergarten or first grade, accelerating a student in a single subject, and grade acceleration.

  • Early entrance to kindergarten is the admission to kindergarten of a student who: (a) will not be five years of age on or before September 1 of that school term; or (b) is admitted prior to the dates established in the School Code based upon an assessment of his or her readiness to attend school.
  • Early entrance to first grade is the admission to first grade of a student who: (a) is assessed for readiness, attended a non-public preschool and continued his or her education at that school through kindergarten, was taught in kindergarten by an appropriately licensed teacher, and will attain the age of six years old on or before December 31; or (b) is admitted prior to the dates established in the School Code based upon his or her readiness for school.
  • Single subject acceleration is the practice of assigning a student to a higher subject level than 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.
  • 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. Commonly referred to as skipping a grade, grade acceleration may be done at the beginning of or during the school term.

Who can refer a child for acceleration?

  • Parent(s)/Guardian(s), Licensed Educational Professionals, Student (with written consent of a parent/guardian), or Peer (through a licensed educational professional who has knowledge of the student’s abilities) may all refer a child for acceleration.
  • In addition to the above-noted individuals, referrals for possible early entrance to kindergarten or first grade may also come from: Preschool Educator, Non-public Kindergarten Teacher, Pediatrician, or Psychologist who knows the student.

Criteria for Early entrance to Kindergarten and 1st Grade:     

Kindergarten

  • The child has completed at least 1 full year of pre-school or private kindergarten as evidenced by a progress summary report.
  • The child attains a score of 130 or above on an intelligence test administered by District 118 and scores above the 90th national percentile on reading and math assessments at the kindergarten level.
  • The child demonstrates attention, gross and fine motor skills, cooperative play, and expressive and receptive language skills at a kindergarten ready level.

First Grade

  • The child has attended pre-school and has successfully completed a kindergarten program as evidenced by a progress summary report.
  • The child attains a score of 130 or above on an intelligence test administered by District 118 and scores above the 90th national percentile on reading and math assessments.
  • The child demonstrates attention, gross and fine motor skills, cooperative play, and expressive and receptive language skills at a first-grade ready level.

Criteria for grade level acceleration and subject acceleration:

Students considered for whole grade level acceleration will have an abilities score at 130 or above and will demonstrate consistent performance at the 99th percentile on state and local achievement assessments. Students considered for subject acceleration will have demonstrate consistent performance at the 99th percentile on state and local achievement assessments in a specific subject.