The End of the Beginning School Study

It’s well-known that a child’s socioeconomic background plays a leading role in dictating their achievements later in life—much of that insight comes from a seminal study that following 790 Baltimore first-graders until they turned 28.
 
The Beginning School Study began in 1982 against a backdrop of rapid deindustrialization, the war on drugs, stagnating social mobility, and the long legacy of Jim Crow. All helped dictate who would succeed and why.

Just 4% of disadvantaged children in the study went on to 4-year colleges, compared to 56% of their better-off counterparts.
 
It was the researchers’ life’s work, and the book rounding up their findings was published last year.  
 
Baltimore Magazine