ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book clarifies how children's socioeconomic status, family structure, age, and gender, as well as the social organization of their elementary schools affect their development over the first few years of school. It begins to fill important gaps in the literature, as the beginning school period thus far has been relatively overlooked as a critical period for children's development. A key theme of the book is that elementary schools to a considerable extent counteract economic disability, because Beginning School Study children from all socioeconomic backgrounds gained on average the same amounts during the school year, no matter the school they attended. The book discusses three intellectual traditions: ecological studies in mainstream child development, status attainment research in sociology and a growing body of findings from investigators who take a life course perspective.
