Strictly speaking, it begins with parental education and maternal nutrition LONG before conception...
Agreed.
There are larger social issues education policy can't ( and IMNSHO, shouldn't, and shouldn't be expected to) tackle
Agreed. However, age of the mother, relationship status of the mother, birth weight of the baby are all factors in the child's future success, including academic and relationship success.
from preschool age onward, high quality compensatory education policies do have a good track record.
Do you have a source to share, which informed this belief?
Here is a source which does not seem to agree with your assertion:
The Head Start Impact Study (HSIS) has shown that having access to Head Start improves children’s preschool experiences and school readiness in certain areas, though few of those advantages persisting through third grade(P uma et al., 2012).
and
The frequency of statistically significant differences in impacts by quality levels is no greater than one would expect to observe by chance alone when no true differences exist. The one exception to this pattern is the discovery that, for 3-year-olds, lower exposure to academic activities is associated with more favorable short-run impacts on social development. There is almost no indication that either high or low quality Head Start in any dimension leads to Head Start impacts that last into third grade for either age cohort, consistent with the overall findings of the Head Start Impact Study not disaggregated by quality level.
A high level of interaction and child-led exposure to academics can be provided outside of the context of a preschool program. For example, in a family environment, informal play group, etc.
