ABSTRACT

Rigid social stratification begins when children start their formal schooling, or even before, yet much of the social sorting at this point in life is overlooked. The literature on schooling and inequality builds on two recurrent themes. One involves identifying family characteristics like those just mentioned and others that could explain the link between socioeconomic status and children's success in school: parent's educational level, economic status, family type, and the like. The other theme involves identifying features of schools that help some students do better than others, such things as school size, school climate, grouping practices, and curriculum structure. Children's transition into full-time schooling, especially their progress over the first two grades, constitutes a "critical period" for their academic and social development. The transition into full-time schooling reconfigures the child's social roles. Curiously, the transition when children begin their formal schooling has no generally accepted name. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.