status is a strong in- dicator of success in general-it suggests a higher IQ and more education-and successful parents are more likely to have successful     children. But moving to a better neighborhood doesnt improve a childs chances in school. It may be that moving itself is a disruptive force; more likely, its because a nicer house doesnt improve math or reading scores any more than nicer sneakers make you jump higher.     Matters: The childs mother was thirty or older at the time of her first childs birth. Doesnt: The childs mother didnt work between birth and kindergarten.     A woman who doesnt have her first child until she is at least thirty is likely to see that child do well in school. This mother tends to be a woman who wanted to get some advanced education or develop trac- tion in her career. She is also likely to want a child more than a teenage mother wants a child. This doesnt mean that an older first-time mother is necessarily a better mother, but she has put herself-and her children-in a more advantageous position. (It is worth noting that this advantage is nonexistent for a teenage mother who waits until she is thirty to have her second child. The ECLS data show that her second child will perform no better than her first.) At the same time, a mother who stays home from work until her child goes to kindergarten does not seem to provide any advantage. Obsessive par- ents might find this lack of correlation bothersome-what was the point of all those Mommy and Me classes?-but that is what the data tell us.     Matters: The child had low birthweight.