Promises kept

the long version

Regardless of how wealthy or poor their parents are, all black boys must confront and surmount the "achievement gap" a divide that shows up not only in our sons' test scores, but in their social and emotional development, their physical well-being, and their outlook on life. As children, they score as high on cognitive tests as their peers, but at some point, the gap emerges. Why? This is the question Joe Brewster, M.D., and Michele Stephenson asked when their own son, Idris, began struggling in a new school. As they filmed his experiences for their award-winning documentary "American Promise, " they met an array of researchers who had not only identified the reasons for the gap, but had come up with practical, innovative solutions to close it.