The National Assessment of Educational Progress dubbed “the nation’s report card” finds that the average African-American or Hispanic high school senior scored lower in all seven subjects tested than 80 percent of white students tested. In “No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning” authors Abigail and Steven Thernstroms conclude from examining NAEP data that: “The college that admits the average black student is, in effect, choosing a youngster who had made it only through eighth grade.”