Transition School is a Special School like no other—seventh- or eighth-grade students prepare not only for their 1st year of college in one classroom for one academic year but they also transform themselves from middle schoolers to scholars. This article will detail their curriculum, support structures, and exceptional ways in which their social and emotional well-being is addressed and monitored throughout their rapid acceleration experience. The article concludes with an overview of the research that supports this unusual and rather unique educational experience.
HalvorsenM.NobleK. D.RobinsonN. M.SiskoN. (2000). Making the transition: Assessment of student satisfaction with preparation for Running Start. Unpublished manuscript, University of Washington, Seattle.
2.
JanosP. M.RobinsonN. M. (1985). The performance of students in a program of radical acceleration at the university level. Gifted Child Quarterly, 29, 175-179.
3.
JanosP. M.RobinsonN. M.LunneborgC. E. (1989). Markedly early entrance to college: A multiyear comparative study of academic performance and psychological adjustment. Journal of Higher Education, 60, 495-518.
4.
JanosP. M.SanfilippoS. M.RobinsonN. M. (1986). Underachievement among markedly accelerated college students. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 15, 303-313.
5.
NobleK. D.ChildersS. (2008). A passion for learning. The theory and practice of optional match at the University of Washington. Journal of Advanced Academics, 19, 236-270.
6.
NobleK. D.ChildersS. (2009). Swimming in deep waters. In ShavininaL. (Ed.), Handbook on giftedness (pp. 1345-1364). Quebec, Canada: Springer Science.
7.
NobleK. D.DrummondJ. E. (1992). But what about the prom? Students’ perceptions of early college entrance. Gifted Child Quarterly, 36, 106-111.
