2024-2025 Amarillo ISD Assessment Calendar

View the 2024-2025 Amarillo ISD assessment calendar (PDF opens in new window) for dates and details regarding our State mandated testing, District testing, and college preparatory testing.

STAAR/EOC Exams

Students in grades 3 – 8 will participate in the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exams. Students in each grade will be assessed in reading and in mathematics.

Additionally, students in grades 4 and 7 will be administered a writing exam, students in grades 5 and 8 will be given a science exam, and students in grade 8 will be given a social studies exam.

High school students who initially entered grade 9 on or after Fall 2011 will participate in the STAAR/End of Course (EOC) assessments. EOC exams include English 1, English 2, Algebra 1, Biology, and United States History. Students enrolled in an EOC course, but not attending high school, will be required to take the applicable exam.

Advanced Placement Exams (Test Dates)

For the complete testing schedule, please visit the College Board Advanced Placement testing schedule (Opens in new window). Amarillo ISD is part of the AP Full Year Pilot.

Pre-SAT (PSAT) and SAT

All Amarillo ISD 8th graders take the PSAT 8/9 in the fall semester. Once we receive their scores, all students create a College Board Account and link it to a free Khan Academy account for the purpose of PSAT practice tasks.

By logging onto www.satpractice.org, students are able to access personalized SAT practice recommendations that are tailored to their own strengths, weaknesses, and progress.

Students can also find full-length practice tests from the College Board and thousands of practice questions that were written in collaboration with the same developers who are creating the redesigned SAT. Official SAT Practice can be accessed from any computer with Internet access.

Khan Academy is also a great resource to prepare for the PSAT/NMSQT, which provides high-scoring juniors National Merit and other scholarship opportunities.

American College Testing (ACT) Information

American College Testing (ACT) assessment is a college entrance exam that tests four content areas: English, mathematics, reading, and science. Students may register for ACT Plus, which includes a timed writing portion. There are six administrations of the ACT exam, and students may register for the test on the ACT website.

Please visit the ACT website for ACT test registration dates/deadlines and tested content information (Opens in new window).

Credit by Exam

Important: As of February 26, 2015, the two state-approved providers for Credit by Exam, Exam for Acceleration (University of Texas and Texas Tech), have not validated, as required by state law, exams for Algebra I, Biology, English I, English II, and U. S. History. Until these tests have been validated, we will not be able to offer these exams. The providers do not have a timeline as to when this process will be complete. As soon as the tests are available, information will be posted on this site and campus staff will be notified.

Credit By Exam Information (No Prior Instruction)

Exam for Acceleration/Credit by Examination – No Prior Instruction (EA/CBE/NPI) provides course credit for students who are enrolled in Amarillo ISD and have no prior formal instruction in the grade level or course.

If you are a middle school or high school student, seek assistance from your school’s Counseling office for Credit By Exam registration information. Registration forms for elementary students are available from the elementary campus principal.

Registration Eligibility (Students must meet all eligibility requirements) include:

• Student is enrolled in an Amarillo ISD school
• Registration form is completed indicating grade level/subject for testing
• School counselor must sign registration form to verify the student’s grade level and CBE eligibility
• All registration forms must be received by the Director of Counseling/College & Career Readiness by the registration deadline

Score Requirements

Grades 1-5 Score Requirements: Students must score a minimum of 80% on each subject area of criterion-referenced tests that cover the essential knowledge and skills in reading/language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science for the grade level they wish to skip.

Middle School Test and Score Requirements: Middle School courses are awarded credit for the entire year. A student must earn a minimum score of 80 percent on the exam in a subject area to be awarded course credit. Scores of 80, or above will be recorded as the grade on the student’s academic achievement record and the student will receive regular/non-weighted course credit. Scores below 80 will not be recorded on the student’s permanent transcript.

Please note: Photo identification is required for testing (Grades 6-12)

High School Tests and Score Requirements: Students wishing to earn credit for a high school course may test with the following exams:

• University of Texas Credit by Exam for Acceleration: Passing score of 80% or higher
• College Board Advanced Placement exam: Passing score of 3 or higher. Score conversion to grade on transcript is as follows:
  • AP Score of 3 = Grade of 85
  • AP Score of 4 = Grade of 90
  • AP Score of 5 = Grade of 95
• CLEP Exam: Passing score of 60 or higher. Score conversion to grade on transcript is as follows:
  • CLEP Score of 60 = Grade of 85
  • CLEP Score of 70 = Grade of 90
  • CLEP Score of 80 = Grade of 95
• Credit for all courses earned with Credit By Exam, including AP and CLEP exams, will receive regular/non-weighted course credit.

Additional Credit By Exam Information

If the student meets the score requirements for a course, the scores must be recorded as the grade on the student’s transcript and regular/non-weighted course credit must be awarded to the student and calculated in the student’s GPA, whether the designation is With Prior Instruction (minimum standard: 70) or Without Prior Instruction (minimum standard: 80).

The student is only allowed one attempt at a course exam.

The district will not accept scores of testing completed outside of our district scheduled testing window without prior approval from the Department of Assessment.

The student’s classification as “No Prior Instruction” or “With Prior Instruction” may not be changed once the test is administered.

Students will only be allowed to take one level, per session for any subject, including World Languages.

Duke Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP)

The Duke Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) is a non-profit educational organization that identifies academically talented seventh graders based on standardized test scores achieved while attending elementary or middle school.

Candidates are invited to take the ACT or the SAT college entrance exam as seventh graders, which allows them greater insight into their academic abilities.

Visit the Duke TIP website for more information (Opens in new window).