Accelerated Placement Program (APP)

Curriculum & Instruction

WHAT IS ACCELERATED PLACEMENT?

Accelerated Placement, is the placement of a student at the instructional level that best matches that student’s needs by allowing access to a curriculum that is usually reserved for children who are older or in higher grades than the student. Students, whose academic needs are not sufficiently met through differentiation may request consideration to the D44 Accelerated Placement Program. Participation in the D44 Accelerated Placement Program is not limited to students who have been identified as “high achievers”, but is open to all children who demonstrate high ability.

Eligibility for the Accelerated Placement Program is open to all currently enrolled D44 students regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, English language proficiency, or socioeconomic status.

Accelerated Placement Team Members

When evaluated if a student is eligible for accelerated placement, the following adults are part of the evaluation process:

APPLICATION PROCESS AND PROGRAMS

The application window opens on January 1st and closes on March 15th.

A student’s parent or guardian may apply and request consideration to the Accelerated Placement Program, or on behalf of the student the classroom teacher or building administrator may apply and request consideration to one of the following District 44’s Accelerated Placement Programs. No outside requests will be considered.

Early Entrance to Kindergarten or First Grade

Residential District 44 families who have children that will reach age 5 after September 1 may apply and request consideration for early entrance to kindergarten. This process begins by parents contacting their residential elementary building principal, in writing, by March 15th to state their intent to apply and begin the Early Entrance Application Process. Students will participate in a thorough Readiness to Attend School testing and assessment process to determine eligibility for early entrance.

To Apply: Contact resident building principal in writing between January 1st - March 15th. The completed application must be turned in to the resident building principal by April 1st.

Checklist: The following checklist can guide parents who may be considering pursuing this process:

 Areas of potential assessment:

Individual Subject Acceleration

Students, whose academic needs are not sufficiently met through differentiation may request consideration for Individual Subject Acceleration Program.

Students who are highly advanced in either English Language Arts (ELA) or Mathematics may apply and request consideration for Individual Subject Acceleration. The first part of the Individual Subject Acceleration Request process will involve a review of 1) the individual student’s readiness to accelerate, 2) the student’s desire to accelerate, 3) and if the student’s academic needs are not being sufficiently met through differentiation.

To Apply: Contact resident building principal.

Criteria:

Whole Grade Acceleration

Students, whose academic needs are not sufficiently met through differentiation may request consideration for the Whole-Grade Acceleration Program.

This is an option for students who are highly advanced in all core curriculum subject areas. This process will begin with a review of 1) the individual student’s readiness for whole-grade acceleration, 2) the student’s desire for whole-grade acceleration, 3) and if the student’s academic needs are not being sufficiently met through grade level differentiation.  When it is determined that differentiation may not be sufficient to meet the child's learning needs, a thorough review of the child will be conducted.

To Apply: Contact resident building principal.

Criteria

In accordance with ISBE 105 ILCS5/14A-32, copies of this policy are available at each school building as well as published on the District 44 website.