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How to Skip a Grade: Requirements to Follow

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Skipping grade is an option that all talented and high-ability students have. And there may be many reasons for such a change in the academic career of a student. According to the Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration, skipping a grade has proven to be a well-thought-out decision for both students and teachers if made correctly. Of course, far not every student can apply for skipping a grade ahead, and there is a list of requirements to comply with. So how to skip a grade? Let’s dig deeper into the question so that you could understand whether it is the right way for you. Or simply pay for homework help, get to-notch results, then skip any grade you like. 

How to Apply for Skipping Grade?

Before talking about how to skip grades, let’s look at how to apply for skipping grades first. The official procedure of skipping a grade implies a student writing a request and submitting it to the school principal. In the document, you are to provide reasoning for the request and identify the grade level you want to skip. Since written requests are more carefully reviewed and addressed than oral ones, it is always recommended to submit such a document to the commission and leave yourself a copy. There is no rule on when the request can be made; however, it is recommended to submit it before the start of the school year. Thus, you will not lose time when your request is being reviewed. Be ready since this process takes some time.  

How to Skip a Grade: Who Can Help You?

When skipping grade, ensure that your request is reviewed strictly according to legitimate requirements. The final decision should be made by a dedicated team consisting of a teacher, counselor, and psychologist specializing in the work with gifted children. In order to either approve or reject the request, schools usually use the Iowa Acceleration Scale, which is aimed at assessing the level of student’s readiness to skip the grade. The tool is used to collect information about the academic performance of the student, their school history, emotional intellect level, attitude towards studies, and academic ability with the purpose of determining if grade-skipping is best for the student.

What Are the Requirements to Skip a Grade

Before making a hard and significant choice of grade skipping, you have to familiarize yourself with some requirements for skipping grades. There are many different reasons for a student to skip grade. Intellectual skills, overperformance, and the need for a change are just some of them. Apart from the above, a student should be ready to change his study environment and start socializing with people of an older age. What else is important here?

Academic Achievement

When preparing a request document with the reasoning to skip a grade, we recommend you to cover your academic achievements in it. Thus, you will demonstrate that your grade level exceeds the set of academic standards. If your standardized test scores are higher than others in the class, it is a good argument to include. Another good thing would be finding a teacher who supports you and believes that skipping a grade is the right solution for you. It will be an extra reason for the commission to say “yes” to your request.

Emotional Readiness

It is hardly possible that an emotionally unready student is approved to skip a grade, no matter how smart and talented he is. When skipping a grade, you will likely be placed with students who are older and more mature. Therefore, you have to be sure you are mature enough to avoid troubles building relationships with older peers. From this perspective, if you think about skipping a grade, it really matters what grade are you in at 10, 12 or 15. Because if you are 10 and want to skip a grade ahead, your classmates will be 12. And in this case, 10-year-old you will have a pretty big gap in emotional development and maturity compared to your 12-year-old classmates. However, if you are 15, then you are already more mature and emotionally developed. So it will be easier for you to blend in and develop relationships with 17-year-old high-school students since your emotional development will no longer be very different from each other.

The main goal of the commission is to make a decision that will bring nothing but a benefit to a student and not lead to psychological trauma. That’s why we recommend you to provide evidence that you are emotionally ready to advance the grade level and change your socialization circle. You can find a teacher or a counselor who could sustain that for you. An assessment from a licensed psychologist will also increase your chances of having your request approved.  

Student Acceptance

You should have no fears and truly believe that skipping the grade will change your life for the better. Be ready that you will have a talk with a psychologist, who will check how ready and willing you are and can you skip a grade in general. In case you have any fears or see it as an obstacle, you will most likely be rejected. That’s why it is important for you to understand if you really want to skip the grade and consider all the consequences of the solution.

Need for Change

It may be so that really talented, smart, and high-ability children get bored at some point, which has a direct impact on their academic performance and grades. Teachers and parents sometimes feel this moment and recommend a student to skip a grade. At this point, it is not ordinary boredom but rather a feeling associated with too easy material taught at a particular grade. In other words, if there is a need for a change, then skipping a grade can be the best solution for a student to get back his interest in studies and how to do well in college.

How to Skip a Grade: Other Things to Consider

Apart from requirements for skipping grades given above, there are a lot of other different aspects you should pay attention to when thinking of skipping a grade.

  • Improve your grades. If your grades are low, it will be difficult to persuade the commission that you’re ready to skip a grade. You should get only A’s to have a chance to skip a grade so feel free to learn how to get good grades.
  • Check out the materials of the next grade level. If you look through the school program of the next grade level, you can determine if you will understand the next-level materials, and hence, if you are really ready for skipping grade.
  • Master some high-level skills and core concepts you will need in the next grade. If you want to skip a grade, you should be ready that the program in the next grade will be much more difficult. If you can handle it and learn even some basics of the next level materials, then it can show your school administrators that you are ready for a higher grade level.
  • Talk to your parents, teachers, and the school counselor. First, you will need to get approval from your parents. Then, speak to your teacher to find out whether they think you are ready or not. Tell them the reason why you want to skip a grade and that you are ready for more complex materials.
  • Be ready to spend more time on learning and less on your hobbies. Especially at the beginning, you will spend much more time and effort to catch all the new materials. Be ready that your new schedule will be more complicated and hence time-consuming. You might want to hone your time management skills.

Final Thoughts About How to Skip a Grade

In this article we covered all the important aspects of how to skip a grade. If you have read our article and feel that you are skilled and mature enough to skip a grade, we recommend consulting with a teacher and parents. Anyway, by submitting a request, your case will be thoroughly reviewed by the commission that will make the best decision for you. So there are absolutely no risks for you. Can StidyCrumb do homework for me so I can skip grades? The answer to this question is yes! Give us a call, we'll discuss all the details.

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If you have read this article and still have some questions, feel free to contact our academic writing service. Our professional writers are experts in the education field. They will answer your questions and provide you with any academic help you need.  

How to Skip a Grade: Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the best time for grade skipping?

If the school approves your application to skip a grade, it’s better to do this at the start of the new school year. It will be easier for you to adapt to the new social and academic environment. It also gives you a summer break. You can use this time to work on the program that’s being skipped.

2. How many grades can you skip?

The question of how many grades can you skip depends on the educational institution and its regulations. Some American schools may oppose grade skipping, or limit it to one or at the most two grades, regardless of the student's academic and social situation.

3. What IQ do you need to skip a grade?

Basically, there are many factors that show your readiness to skip a grade. IQ level is, of course, one of them, but not the most important one. Even if a student's IQ is higher than 98, it doesn’t mean they are ready to skip a grade at all. IQ also doesn’t show how smart you are and how you are ready to solve more advanced problems and find decisions. So no matter what your IQ is, if you feel you are ready, you are emotionally developed and mature enough, you can try to apply for skipping a grade.

Article posted on:May 11, 2022
Article updated on:Apr 18, 2024

Comments

Leave your comment here:
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Scarlett
6/28/2022 6:42 AM
I'm running a little experiment for my Education class. I'd like to know the psychological consequences of skipping the grade. I'm planning to select middle-school students for my study, they all were around 10-12 years old, when they skipped a grade.
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StudyCrumb
6/28/2022 7:14 AM
Hi Scarlett,

There is little literature on this. According to most scholarly sources, skipping a grade in early childhood may have such drawbacks:

Development of introversion due to emotional immaturity
Excessive impatience
Difficulty to accept failure
Increased arrogance.

However, it depends on each particular child you are studying.
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StudyCrumb
7/8/2022 7:24 AM
Hi Scarlett,

You must be a real genius! Good for you! We assume you are academically prepared to accept this challenge. If you think you have already met all academic standards of your grade, it will make sense to skip a grade. If you feel confident, go for it!
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Leah
7/8/2022 6:32 AM
I feel like I know pretty much everything in my class and sometimes I just start getting bored. Would it be a good idea to skip a grade? I'm currently in the 8th grade. Thanks a lot!