Correspondence, Virtual & Distance Courses

All high school students may take correspondence, distance and virtual courses and earn credit toward graduation. Students may choose to take correspondence, distance and virtual courses outside the school day at their own expense. Credit toward state graduation requirements shall be granted under the following conditions:

• The institution offering the course is The University of Texas (UT), Texas Tech University, Texas Virtual School Network (TxVSN), or other public institution of higher education approved by the Commissioner of Education.
• The course includes the state-required Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for such a course.

If the intent of a correspondence, distance or virtual course is to earn credit towards graduation, students are highly encouraged to speak with their counselor prior to enrolling. North East ISD recommends that any correspondence, distance, or virtual courses required for graduation are completed by the end of the fall semester of a student’s senior year.  

Grades earned through correspondence courses will be calculated in GPA. Student athletes who are considering correspondence, distance or virtual courses must check with the NCAA to inquire if a course of this type is acceptable as part of the NCAA core curriculum requirements. Please visit the NCAA website eligibilitycenter.org for additional information.

A correspondence course is not considered completed until the final grade is recorded on the student’s NEISD transcript.

Credit By Exam

Credit by Examination—Without Prior Instruction

Students are eligible to take examinations for acceleration which have been developed or purchased by the district. Students can earn credit for an academic subject in which the student has received no prior instruction if the student scores 80 or above on a criterion-referenced examination for acceleration in the applicable course. If such credit is approved and completed, the score is entered on the student’s transcript.

District Administration of Credit by Examination—Without Prior Instruction

• For district testing dates, please check the assessment website located at Testing Services / Credit By Exam
• The District does not charge for examinations taken on NEISD CBE administration dates.
• Exam registration and approval is obtained through the student’s counselor. 

Credit by Examination—With Prior Instruction

Students are eligible to take examinations for recovery of credit which have been developed or purchased by the district. Students who have received previous instruction in a course may earn credit by scoring at least a 70 on a test covering the appropriate essential knowledge and skills. If such credit is approved and completed the score is entered on the student’s transcript.  Examples of prior instruction can include: incomplete coursework due to a failed course or excessive absences, correspondence courses or independent study supervised by a teacher.  Credit by examination is not to be used to gain eligibility for participation in extracurricular activities.

Summer School

Certain courses are offered during summer school for credit recovery or for initial credit.  The number of students who enroll determines actual courses offered.  Tuition is set by the district and is charged for each summer course. Contact your campus counselor for more information.  Information should also be available on the district website as early as March prior to June start.

STAAR End-of-Course (EOC) Assessments 

The state of Texas requires that students achieve satisfactory performance on five required EOC assessments to be eligible to receive a high school diploma. The five required EOC assessments are the following: English I, English II, Algebra I, Biology, and U. S. History.