Acceleration & Advancement

Lakota Local Schools offers a thorough assessment process in order to prepare a recommendation to accept or to decline early admission. The process follows the Ohio Department of Education's full assessment protocol that includes tests of ability and tests of achievement in reading and math. It is called the Iowa Acceleration Scale.

An initial assessment of reading and math achievement is completed by appointment with a gifted specialist. Children who meet the minimum score requirement will be invited to meet for a cognitive ability assessment. Following the assessments, parents, an early childhood administrator and Gifted Services will hold a conference. At that time, assessment results will be shared and discussed to determine placement.

Typically, one or two children in a hundred meet the expectations required to enter school early. Early entrance is a form of grade acceleration. Therefore, the team is not simply looking to see if a child is ready for kindergarten (or first grade); the team is investigating to see if a child is ready to accelerate a year ahead of his/her peers. 

Parents need to consider that early entrance is a decision that will impact the child throughout the school experience, not just for a year or two. When accelerated children enter the middle grades or junior school, their peers may be more physically developed and have broader parental permission regarding social activities. Challenges may occur in high school as peers may have a driver’s license or begin to date when the accelerated student is not eligible at that time. Parents must consider that entrance to college will follow earlier than traditionally expected, and the student will require profound maturity to effectively face adult decisions and potential pressures.

Below are some ability/achievement/aptitude characteristics that are considered good indicators of success with Early Entrance to Kindergarten or first grade:

• Understands the meanings and use of words better than other children his/her age
• Is curious about many things and asks questions often
• Is very good at working puzzles or solving problems
• Has a great sense of humor and understands jokes more than other children his/her age
• Has a good memory and remembers details of conversations or stories
• Is interested in difficult concepts such as time or space
• Concentrates on certain activities much longer than other children his/her age
• Reads (and understands text) in picture books or chapter books
• Figures out math-related problems better than other children his/her age

Other important school and behavior-related factors:

• Enjoys learning new information or skills
• Participates in community-sponsored activities such as sports, music, library, and museum programs
• Believes he/she is capable of succeeding at new tasks
• Considers feedback and criticism thoughtfully and modifies behavior appropriately
• Behaves often in a way that is positive and effective
• Has good interpersonal skills with same-age peers, as well as older and younger children, and adults
• Has excellent interpersonal relationships with adults in a teaching role

• The child has one (or more) older sibling(s) in the grade in which he/she will be placed.
• The child did not want to attend preschool or missed school often because of illness or family issues.
• There is no extra time in the day to provide additional support to my child that he/she may need in order to transition to a new setting with higher academic demands.

1. Complete the Early Entrance Application, available here in early February. 
2. Receive an email (in April) with next steps from Gifted Services.  
3. Sign-up for academic testing. The sign up will be provided later this spring. Testing begins in Late May/early June.  
4. Parents will be contacted by the Gifted Services Department with the results within 48 hours of testing and may be asked to bring back their child for further testing and a conference.

Your child will work with a Gifted Intervention Specialist to gain a score in reading and math achievement. A minimum ability score in reading and math is required to continue testing and have a team meeting.

You will be notified by phone within 48 hours of testing as to whether your child has met the minimum ability, and then you will need to make an appointment to continue testing. If your child does not meet the minimum ability required, testing will stop, and entrance to kindergarten will occur in the next school year.
 

The Gifted Services Department will contact the parent/guardian with the results of the assessment within 5 days and, if applicable, schedule a time to assess cognitive ability.

Recommendations for or against Early Entrance are made in the child’s best interest. All recommendations are given based on what is best for the child at this point in his/her development. If Early Entrance is not appropriate at this time, grade or subject acceleration may be investigated at a later time in the school career. If parents believe that results of the testing are not accurate, they may appeal by following the appeal process found on the website.

A recommendation for Early Entrance to Kindergarten is the professional opinion of the evaluation team that the child will succeed in such a placement. Parents may choose to enroll their child when age appropriate.

Yes, the results of any independent assessment will be considered if the instruments used are on the list of approved instruments for identification of gifted students by the Ohio State Department of Education and are administered by a licensed psychologist. A copy of test results and credentials of the psychologist will need to be submitted for review. Achievement results provided by the licensed psychologist may also be considered and accepted for use in the Iowa Acceleration Scale.

• Feb. 1 - Registration for Early Entrance opens
• April - Families will be contacted via email with Next Steps and link to sign up for Testing.
• Late May/ Early June — Academic and Cognitive assessments take place.
  • Parents will sign up for a slot.  Directions will be provided in the spring.
  • Gifted Services will notify the family of the results within 5 days and schedule a follow up session if moving to the next round of assessment.
• June 12, 2026 — The final date that requests will be accepted for early entrance. After June 12, the only exception will be those who are able to document a move into the district after this date.