Excerpts from the report: The Early Years Study by Margaret McCain and Fraser Mustard (1999) had an electrifying effect on scientists working in the area of early child development. The book mapped out the neuroscientific explanation for why it was that study after study was confirming what primary school teachers had been reporting for some time: that in the vast majority of cases, when a child enters the school system her educational future already seems to have been decided. Highly verbal and attentive children go on to become successful students; children with poor language or social skills find school a stressful experience and in many cases go on to develop behavioral, psychological and health problems. … In this second edition of the Early Years Study we review the scientific advances that have been made in the past eight years in developmental neuroscience, and the organizational advances that have been in the implementation of this knowledge. We are still a long way, however, from the sorts of universally accessible high quality programs that are needed. As important as it is to continue our scientific investigations, the most important challenge that we face today is to muster the political will and effort necessary to translate what we already know about early brain development into action.