The gaps in achievement and attainment between races have remained stable in recent decades while the gaps between classes have grown. Researchers consistently conclude that these gaps form mostly before school and during the summer as the result of a vast array of out-of-school influences, but policy has primarily aimed to change what happens inside schools. This paper investigates the potential efficacy of policies designed to alter one of these factors -- stress -- as a means of narrowing the achievement gap by synthesizing the empirical literature linking stress and academic performance, and reviewing the theoretical literature. Overall, the literature yields mixed results that offer a strong theoretical basis for, but only moderate empirical evidence of, such a relationship.