Acceleration

Accelerated placement is the placement of a student in an educational setting with a curriculum that is usually reserved for students who are older or in higher grades than the student. 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 certified teacher, and will attain the age of six years on or before December 31; 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. 

Single subject acceleration is the practice of assigning a student to a higher subject level than is typical, given the student’s current age/grade placement, 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.

Whole 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. 

Each August, USD116 notifies families, staff and the community the procedures and process for referring a student for possible evaluation for accelerated placement. This includes how to make a referral, whom to make a referral to, referral timelines, and needed information for the referral.  Notification is placed on the district website as well as student/family handbooks. Notification includes methods used to determine whether a student is eligible for an accelerated placement and is offered in multiple languages.  

Parents, Guardians, Licensed Education Professionals, and/or a student (with written consent from a parent/guardian) may refer a student for acceleration.

Referral for early entrance to kindergarten is turned in to the kindergarten coordinator and all other referrals for single subject/whole grade acceleration is turned in to the district curriculum coordinator who forwards this to the building principal. If the student is a multilingual learner, the ELL Coordinator will be consulted.

After receiving a completed district referral form, a school team which may include a building administrator, school psychologist, social worker, classroom teacher, and/or any other relevant staff member with knowledge of the student and/or the evaluation determination process will determine if an evaluation is warranted by reviewing/completing screening data, collaborating with the classroom teacher and completing a student observation when applicable.   For students currently enrolled/attending an Urbana School, the decision about moving forward with an evaluation can only be made after fall and winter benchmark data has been collected and reviewed. For students requesting acceleration who are not currently enrolled, screening data will need to be collected.   

Following the screening process, the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s) will be provided written notice of the referral determination.  

Following the referral/screening process, when a student is recommended for an evaluation, a team is convened to discuss the evaluation process which includes identifying indicators and assessment instruments to be used during the evaluation process. The team varies depending on the age, grade, type of acceleration requested and other relevant factors. A written document is prepared identifying these evaluation components and written consent is obtained from the parents/guardians. 

Below are a few exceptions/extenuating circumstances to the evaluation process set forth in these procedures.

• Per the Illinois Accelerated Placement Act, students in grades 9-12 shall automatically be accelerated/enrolled in the next most rigorous level of English, Social Studies, Humanities, Math, Computer Sciences, Science and some CTE courses when their most recent state assessments meet or exceed state standards.  
• Students entering USD116 from other countries may be assigned to the grade level corresponding to the grade level from their Country of Origin vs the grade level aligned to their age expected grade for our schools.
• Students who move into the district after the request for acceleration deadline, may be considered for acceleration if standardized assessments are already available and meet our screening criteria for consideration. Decisions will be made by the Director of Curriculum and Student Learning in collaboration with building administration. 

A team is convened to review the evaluation results and discuss eligibility for acceleration. Parents/guardians are provided with written notice of the eligible determination. When a student is eligible, the team prepares a written plan detailing the type of acceleration the student will receive including support strategies. The parent will provide written consent. When a student is not eligible, within five calendar days after receiving the determination, they are provided with written notice of their right to appeal the eligibility determination; the appeal is submitted in writing to the Superintendent within 15 calendar days after receiving written notification the student is not eligible for acceleration. Within 15 calendar days after receiving the written appeal request from a parent/guardian, the Superintendent reviews the case, and provides written notice of their decision; the Superintendent’s decision is final.

Procedures

1. Request for Acceleration Referral Form is completed and turned into the District Curriculum/Kindergarten/ELL Coordinator by January 31 of each school year.
2. Requests received after January 31st, will be considered for an evaluation during the next school year. 
3. A school team is convened (through the MTSS process) to review the Acceleration Evaluation request and determine if an evaluation is warranted through a records review, observation of the student, consultation with family and staff, and other steps as deemed appropriate.
4. Written notice of the referral determination outcome is provided to the parent/guardian.
5. If an evaluation is recommended, the team convenes and identifies the necessary evaluation components to determine eligibility for acceleration.  Parent/guardian provides written consent for the evaluation. 
6. Once the evaluation is completed, the parent/guardian is contacted to schedule a meeting to discuss the results.  A written report is prepared and includes a recommendation for acceleration or not.  
7. The acceleration plan is developed by a team that includes building administrators, representatives from the current placement and from the accelerated placement and district team members as appropriate.  The plan will include
   1. Details of the type of acceleration the student will receive, 
   2. Strategies to support the student through a successful transition, and
   3. The designated individual who will monitor the student during the first 30 school days of the acceleration.
   4. During these first 30 school days of the accelerated placement, the parent/guardian may request in writing that the student be returned to the non-accelerated setting without penalty.
8. After the 30 days of transition, the student’s records will be updated to reflect the accelerated status.  
9. When a student is recommended for acceleration, all attempts will be made to have the placement at the student’s home school; however, under some circumstances, the placement may be made at a different school. 
10. Only one evaluation for acceleration will be conducted within a twelve month period for an individual student, unless the school district and parent/guardian agree to conduct another evaluation within that time frame.
11. The parent/guardian may appeal, in writing, the decision of the evaluation team to the district Superintendent within 15 work days of the meeting to discuss the results of the evaluation.The superintendent will review and notify the parent/guardian of the final decision within 15 work days of receiving the appeal. This decision is final.   

When a determination is made to accelerate a student either whole grade or single subject, a team will meet and develop a written plan including placement and strategies needed for a successful transition. This plan will be documented on the district identified form. 

• The plan will include a designated individual who will monitor the transition to the accelerated placement for 30 school days.  
• During the 30 day transition period, the parent/guardian may request, in writing, that the student be returned to their non-accelerated placement without penalty.

District Superintendent or designee: Ensures annual notification of acceleration procedures each August for staff, family and community.

Notification will include

• Process description
• Referral  forms
• Deadlines
• Persons responsible

Notification in multiple languages will be made through various methods such as websites, student/family handbooks, etc. 

Within 15 days of receiving a written appeal request from the family, reviews the case and provides the parent/guardian with a written notice of a final decision.

Director of Curriculum & Student Learning and the Director of Assessments & Accountability:

• Oversees the acceleration process district wide
• Ensures all staff know and understand their role and responsibilities as well as the process and procedures
• Reviews the process and procedures annually
• Stays up to date on legal requirements and necessary changes

Curriculum, ELL and Kindergartner Coordinators: 

• Receives and reviews referral forms
• For PK and non enrolled students, a coordinator will collect screening data to determine if an evaluation is warranted 
• Coordinates with building  administrators to convene a team to determine if a recommendation for screening and/or evaluation is appropriate
• Provides parent written notice of decision regarding recommendation to evaluate in collaboration with the building principal
• Maintains records and documentation of all students in the district who have been referred for acceleration AND who are accelerated

Building Principal or Designee:

• Is knowledgeable about acceleration process
• Annually informs building staff of acceleration process
• Ensures requests for acceleration are provided to district coordinators
• When a referral is received, coordinates with the MTSS team to review the referral and make a decision 
• Convenes team to identify evaluation components when an evaluation is recommended
• Ensures parent/guardian consent is received when team determines to move forward with a referral

Building Evaluation Team: 

• For requests for incoming K acceleration, the team will notify the family within 14 days of receiving the request
• Review requests for acceleration to determine recommendation no later than the end of February.
• Identifies evaluation components when an evaluation is recommended (see chart below)
• Completes evaluation and writes up a final report with recommendation
• Meets with the family to share evaluation results and written recommendations by end of the school year
• When appropriate, develops acceleration plan
• Reviews, discusses, and updates all building acceleration plans BI-ANNUALLY (at the beginning and end of each school year)
• Ensures that all records created during the acceleration request are provided to the parent and maintained in the student file