ABSTRACT
This essay describes an intellectual odyssey. The story begins more than thirty years ago when James Coleman began work on a study of high schools that formed the basis for The Adolescent Society (Coleman, 1961a) and followed this with the equally path-breaking Coleman Report (Coleman, Campbell et al., 1966). This research would be the beginning of a lifetime of productive and influential research on education. This chapter is an intellectual history of these major works and their aftermath. We place Coleman's contributions in context. We consider how well his early work on education has stood the test of time and examine the impact of his research on public policy. Few social scientists have been as effective as Coleman in shaping public policy discussions about education. He has repeatedly mounted successful challenges to the conventional wisdom.
