Accelerated Placement

The Accelerated Placement Act

CCSD62 offers an Accelerated Placement Program as called for under The State of Illinois Acceleration Placement Act.

The purpose of the Accelerated Placement Program is to provide an educational setting with curricular options usually reserved for students who are older or in higher grades than the students participating.

These options include:

Early Entrance to Kindergarten

Children eligible for early entrance to kindergarten must turn five years of age by December 31st of their kindergarten enrollment. To be considered for early entrance to kindergarten, students must demonstrate high ability in academic, cognitive, fine motor, and social emotional domains.

Please Consider:

The decision for a child to enter school early can have a profound effect on his or her academic and social performance for the remainder of the child’s school career. It is a decision that needs to be taken very seriously. Academic readiness, academic potential, and social emotional maturity are all equally important considerations. Parents requesting early entrance to kindergarten should be aware that very few children screened meet the criteria.

Step 1: Parent Request for Early Entrance to Kindergarten

Step 2: Questionnaire and Application Fee

Parent/Guardian completes the Early Entrance to Kindergarten Application (English Application, Spanish Application), Parent Acknowledgement Form (English, Spanish), Authorization for the Exchange of Confidential Information form (English, Spanish), and submits a non-refundable $150 application fee.

In order for the evaluation to begin, all application materials must be received by the February 1st deadline for Iroquois Community School and March 15th deadline for all other district schools. The application fee may be waived for a student who resides in a household that meets the guidelines for the federal free meals program.

Step 3: Student Evaluation

Once all application materials have been received, a D62 School Psychologist will contact the parent/guardian to set up an appointment for the evaluation and to provide any additional materials that may be part of the evaluation.

The evaluation will be composed of standardized and norm-referenced assessments to measure cognitive functioning/ability and academic achievement, parent and teacher (if applicable) feedback forms to measure social emotional maturity of the child, and informal observation to measure motor ability.

In order to qualify for early entrance to kindergarten, a student must demonstrate cognitive abilities and academic achievement at or above the 98th percentile and above-average social-emotional development as determined by assessment observations, child interview, and parent and/or teacher (if applicable) feedback forms.

Step 4: Placement Recommendation and Trial Period

A placement recommendation will be made that is based on the evaluation and the decision is final. If the child meets the district criteria for early entrance to kindergarten, they will start kindergarten on the first day of the new school year.

Following a 6-8 week trial period, a school committee will make the final decision to determine if the child will continue in the program or delay early admission until the following school year.

Early Entrance to First Grade

Children eligible for early entrance to first grade must turn six years of age by December 31st of their first grade enrollment. To be considered for early entrance to first grade, students must demonstrate high ability in academic, cognitive, fine motor, and social emotional domains.

Please Consider:

Step 1: Parent Request for Early Entrance to First Grade

Step 2: Questionnaire and Application Fee

Parent/Guardian completes the Early Entrance to First Grade Application (English Application, Spanish Application), Parent Acknowledgement Form (English, Spanish), Authorization for the Exchange of Confidential Information form (English, Spanish), and submits a non-refundable $150 application fee. In order for the evaluation to begin, all application materials must be received by the February 1st deadline for Iroquois Community School and March 15th deadline for all other district schools.

The application fee may be waived for a student who resides in a household that meets the guidelines for the federal free meals program.

Step 3: Student Evaluation

In order to qualify for early entrance to first grade, a student must demonstrate cognitive abilities and academic achievement at or above the 98th percentile and above-average social-emotional development as determined by assessment observations, child interview, and parent and/or teacher (if applicable) feedback forms.

Step 4: Placement Recommendation and Trial Period

A placement recommendation will be made that is based on the evaluation and the decision is final. If the child meets the district criteria for early entrance to first grade, they will start on the first day of the new school year.

Following a 6-8 week trial period, a school committee will make the final decision to determine if the child will continue in the program or delay early admission until the following school year.

Single Subject Acceleration

Nomination for single subject acceleration can be initiated by a parent, teacher, principal or physician/psychologist that knows the student. Requests may be made at any time throughout the school year.

Any requests made after the start of the 3rd quarter in middle school or 3rd trimester in elementary school will be reviewed and placement determined within the first 30 days of the following school year

D62 Accelerated Placement Program

Intended for all students who demonstrate high ability and who may benefit from accelerated placement.
Not limited to students who have been identified as gifted and talented.
Eligibility shall not be conditioned upon protected classifications (i.e. age) or any factor other than the student’s identification as an accelerated learner.
All student data will be reviewed at the end of their 5th grade year for placement into middle school courses for Math and ELA. Data review may result in recommendation of a SSA placement. Parents will be notified to accept or decline placement

To Request Single Subject Acceleration

Appeals Process: Within 10 days of notification of placement, a student’s parent or legal guardian may submit an appeal of the placement committee decision in writing to the Superintendent or designee. The Superintendent or designee shall notify the parent/guardian of the final decision regarding placement within 30 days.

Step 1: Request for Single Subject Acceleration

Step 2: Phase I Evaluation

Step 3: Acceleration Request Denied or Move to Phase II

Based on review of assessment data in Phase I, if a student meets criteria they will move to a trial period of consideration for Single Subject Acceleration. If they do not meet criteria, Instructional Services and/or Building Principal will communicate with parents/guardians that the student does not qualify for single subject acceleration at this time. Students may reapply in the future.

Step 4: Phase II Evaluation

Step 5: Placement Recommendation and Trial Period

Step 6: Final Decision

Whole Grade Acceleration

Recommendations for whole grade acceleration may be initiated by parent(s)/guardian(s), teacher or administrator.

Whole Grade Acceleration:

Whole-grade acceleration is the practice of moving a student into the next grade level on a full-time basis when their academic performance, readiness, and developmental characteristics indicate that they would benefit from more advanced learning opportunities. This process, sometimes referred to as “grade skipping,” is intended to ensure that students receive instruction that matches their demonstrated abilities while also supporting their social and emotional development.

Deadlines:

Whole Grade Acceleration will occur at the mid-point or beginning of a school year only.

Elementary School Mid-point: After Winter Break
Middle School Mid-Point: At the Semester
Iroquois Community School (ICS): At the Semester

Deadlines to submit requests:

By September 1: (ICS - Acceleration begins at mid-point marker)
By October 1 (10-month Schools: Acceleration begins at the mid-point marker)
By March 1 (All D62 Schools: Acceleration begins at the start of next school year)

To Request Whole Grade Acceleration

Step 1: Whole Grade Acceleration Application

Step 2: Pre-Qualification

Pre-Screening of available information is reviewed to assess whether a student would be a good candidate for evaluation for whole-grade acceleration. The following information is considered in the pre-qualification process:

Normed achievement tests: (e.g. iReady, NWEA) Students must score in the 95th percentile or above in reading and math.
Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) for grade 3-8: Students must earn a score of Above Proficient in both ELA and Math.
SEL data (SAEBRS): Must be low risk in all areas (academic, emotional and social)
Report card information:
- Students must have Exceeds Expectations (4s) in core academic areas (reading and math), and Meets (3) or Exceeds (4) in all other areas.
- Students must have all 3s and 4s under Learning Behaviors.
- If your child has not yet received a report card from District 62, previous school records will be reviewed.

If a student meets pre-qualification criteria, the student will advance to Step 3.

Step 3: Evaluation

A School Psychologist will complete cognitive testing. Results are reviewed and if the student is at least one standard deviation above the mean, the student will proceed to aptitude and achievement testing.

If the student does not score at least one standard deviation about the mean on the cognitive tests, the process concludes and the student is not eligible for whole grade acceleration.