This article proposes closing the academic performance gaps between African American and Latino students and their White counterparts particularly in the line of research that concerns the idea of "stereotype threat." Stereotype threat is predicated on the notion that people often fear behaving in a way that fits the negative cultural image associated with a group stereotype, thereby marking them as inferior. If an intervention reduces stereotype threat and general anxiety before a test and boosts performance on that test, then that seemingly "small win" can reduce an individual's fear of fulfilling negative stereotypes and improve future performance in evaluative situations. The intervention proposed was a self-affirmation writing exercise developed by Geoffrey Cohen and his colleagues (Cohen et al., 2006). The outcome suggested that apparently subtle mindset interventions that spark small but early alterations in trajectory can have long-term effects that endure across several years and across key schooling transitions. Tables and figures are appended.