Originally Posted by Val
IMO, a better way to help these kids might be to put them into a one-year gap program that helps them learn how to survive in college.

I'm of the mind that these skills should be taught during high school, as part of the "college-readiness" they are trying to push so hard. A bright kid coming out of an under-challenging HS is itching for some challenge in college, not another year delayed through no fault of their own.

Maybe a crash-course maybe in college, workshops of some kind. Or maybe that's what community college has to offer. Maybe first semester of four-year college could offer a balance that isn't a full-time traditional course load, with more support. I know a couple people who jumped from a small HS that had no rigor, no AP, no GT support, and non-college-educated parents, into a rigorous college and hit the wall that first semester, overwhelmed, only to figure it out by second semester and get back up to the top. Some drop out, though, so some sort of gap-filling seems prudent.