--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For almost twenty-five years, we tracked…" description: "\"“For almost twenty-five years, we tracked the life progress of 790 children who began first grade in the fall of 1982 in twenty Baltimore public elemen..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06d/karl-alexander-21491_children_for-almost-twenty-five-years-we-tracked_1072948.jpg" --- # For almost twenty-five years, we tracked the life progress… ![“For almost twenty-five years, we tracked the life progress of 790 children who began first grade in the fall of 1982 in twenty Baltimore public elementary schools. This book is about their journey from childhood into young adulthood. It happens that one of these schools, the poorest of the twenty…” quote by Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06d/karl-alexander-21491_children_for-almost-twenty-five-years-we-tracked_1072948.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06d/karl-alexander-21491_children_for-almost-twenty-five-years-we-tracked_1072948.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06d/karl-alexander-21491_children_for-almost-twenty-five-years-we-tracked_1072948.jpg) > ““For almost twenty-five years, we tracked the life progress of 790 children who began first grade in the fall of 1982 in twenty Baltimore public elementary schools. This book is about their journey from childhood into young adulthood. It happens that one of these schools, the poorest of the twenty, is located in a neighborhood that borders the two depicted in The Corner. To characterize that school as high need would be an”” [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A longitudinal study follows children from first grade into adulthood, highlighting socioeconomic impacts on development. **In simple terms:** Study tracks kids from school to adulthood, showing poverty effects. Key Takeaway Consider how early environment shapes life outcomes. Themes education inequality development longitudinal research Mood reflective analytical Type research documentary When to use this quote - policy making - education reform - community outreach - academic counseling Key Concepts socioeconomic status life trajectory social mobility Questions to Reflect On - How does poverty influence long‑term success? - What interventions could alter these trajectories? A Different Perspective Data may not capture individual agency beyond structural factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Elementary school](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elementary-school/) [Elementary Schools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elementary-schools/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) ## Related quotes > [“The men in grey were powerless to meet this challenge head-on. 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My parents are very restless people, which is probably where I get my own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evangeline-lilly/when-i-was-little-i-attended-five-different-elementary-schools-my/) [Evangeline Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evangeline-lilly/) > [“In Anton Chekhov’s play the Three Sisters, sister Masha refuses ‘to live and not know why the cranes fly, why children are born, why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chet-raymo/in-anton-chekhov-s-play-the-three-sisters-sister-masha-refuses-to/) [Chet Raymo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chet-raymo/) > [“Our great mistake in education is, as it seems to me, the worship of book-learning–the confusion of instruction and education. We strain the memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lubbock/our-great-mistake-in-education-is-as-it-seems-to-me-the-worship-of/) [John Lubbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lubbock/) > [“People are all born ignorant but they are not born stupid. Much of the stupidity we see today is induced by our educational system,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/people-are-all-born-ignorant-but-they-are-not-born-stupid-much-of-the/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [I went to seven different elementary schools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cordae/i-went-to-seven-different-elementary-schools/) [Cordae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cordae/) > [I went to a French immersion school, and French-Canadian improv is a big thing, and we had an improv team at school, and 12…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatiana-maslany/i-went-to-a-french-immersion-school-and-french-canadian-improv-is-a/) [Tatiana Maslany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatiana-maslany/) > [I lived in a little working-class town that had no black neighborhoods at all - one high school. We all played together. Everybody was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/i-lived-in-a-little-working-class-town-that-had-no-black/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [If it is believed that these elementary schools will be better managed by the governor and council or any other general authority of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/if-it-is-believed-that-these-elementary-schools-will-be-better/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“ask yourself how many people you have met who grumbled at a thing as incurable, and how many who attacked it as curable? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/ask-yourself-how-many-people-you-have-met-who-grumbled-at-a-thing-as/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) ## More by Karl Alexander > [“From a stratification perspective, we want to understand both immobility and mobility. For immobility, the issue is how status is inherited across generations. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/from-a-stratification-perspective-we-want-to-understand-both/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“The quarter century following World War II was a ‘golden age’ for most workers and their families…, even for men with a high school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/the-quarter-century-following-world-war-ii-was-a-golden-age-for-most/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“THIS BOOK is about the reproduction of social advantage and disadvantage across generations in the experience of typical Baltimore youth, anchored in their childhood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/this-book-is-about-the-reproduction-of-social-advantage-and/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“Problem behaviors potentially are obstacles in both school and labor market, especially for the African American urban disadvantaged. White men, of both lower and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/problem-behaviors-potentially-are-obstacles-in-both-school-and-labor/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“Family conditions early in life cast a long shadow. That principle holds broadly, but with exceptions, and in this context they are numerous. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/family-conditions-early-in-life-cast-a-long-shadow-that-principle/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“those African Americans who did manage to penetrate the skilled trades mostly were consigned to low-wage work. 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It is a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/this-volume-aims-to-identify-the-resources-and-personal-qualities/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“The exclusion of blacks from high-skill, high-wage employment is rooted in Jim Crow and resistance to integration and is sustained through tradition, word-of-mouth network…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/the-exclusion-of-blacks-from-high-skill-high-wage-employment-is/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“Nationally in 2011, poor whites exceeded the poor African American total by roughly eight million: 19,171,000 versus 10,929,000.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/nationally-in-2011-poor-whites-exceeded-the-poor-african-american/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“By contrast, lower-SES children labor under the burden of cumulative disadvantage imposed by their location in the SES hierarchy. Their parents want them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/by-contrast-lower-ses-children-labor-under-the-burden-of-cumulative/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“It is commonly thought that high-poverty neighborhoods are socially fragmented and suffer a weak sense of community, but that is mistaken (see, for example,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/it-is-commonly-thought-that-high-poverty-neighborhoods-are-socially/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“Other resources located within the family also weigh on children's development. In figure 7.1, they are represented by parents' psychological support for their children's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/other-resources-located-within-the-family-also-weigh-on-children-s/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) > [“In 1960, never-married mothers accounted for fewer than 5 percent of the children of single mothers; by 2006, they accounted for 43 percent (Thibos,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-alexander/in-1960-never-married-mothers-accounted-for-fewer-than-5-percent-of/) [Karl Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) [Explore all 29 Karl Alexander quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-alexander/) ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. 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