Abstract
This chapter from Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development Volume 76, Issue 4 presents conclusions, trends, conceptual analyses, hypotheses, and speculations regarding some fundamental issues of research, practice, and policy that are largely unsettled or controversial. As such, the chapter is not a summary of Chapters I–VIII, but rather contains interpretations and opinions of the author intended to elevate the priority of certain issues, suggest hypotheses to be studied, and propose practice and policy steps to be considered.