at least originally, were NEVER intended to be for "all" high school students. Only for maybe the top 10% in terms of achievement-- at most.
Agreed. How to tease out those who are in the top percentiles of IQ but not achievements, those perhaps through no fault of their own may have been in learning environments (including home environments) in which they adapted to lack of intellectual challenge worthy of their potential, and became underachievers very early in life? How to get them used to chasing down an antelope to feed their inner cheetah (reference to Stephanie Tolan's analogy,
Is It A Cheetah?) when they've perhaps become accustomed to rabbits or zoo chow?
A separate support class providing temporary scaffolding may help these students develop the needed stamina to be self-sustaining in their futures. To continue the cheetah analogy, this may be the wildlife rehabilitation center, preparing cheetahs and re-acclimating them to be reintroduced into the wild?
Both AP classes and AP support may co-exist together, meeting a broad range of intellectual, developmental, educational, and societal goals.
