As the preceding chapters in this handbook demonstrate, research on education policy as well as the development and application of research methods to educational policy issues have evolved considerably over the last quarter century. This is certainly true of research on issues related to educational access and differentiation. The chapters in this section provide a broad view of both the issues with which both research and policy makers have been concerned. They also reveal well how our knowledge about these issues has advanced over time. I will comment on the story I think this set of chapters tells about access and opportunity and what confi dence we can have in the research fi ndings presented. I will speak very briefl y on the potential for new research and analytic approaches. Finally, I explore ideas and lines of inquiry not present in these chapters, but from which we might benefi t if additional work could be stimulated.