The dumbing down of America continues!

Fox News: A growing number of states continue to "soften" standards on exit testing for high school students. Most of the tests are "pegged" to an 8th grade level.

This has been confirmed by several other recent studies:
Lower Scores, Fewer Students
Mean scores on the SAT fell this year by more than they have in decades. A five-point drop in critical reading, to 503, was the largest decline since 1975 and the two-point drop in mathematics, to 518, was the largest dip since 1978.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/08/30/sat
Scores for expanded SAT show largest dip since 1975
National average scores for the SAT college entrance exam fell 7 points — the biggest drop in 31 years — for the high school class of 2006, the first to take the new version of the test.
The number of test-takers also was down by about 9,600 students, to 1.47 million. Participation rates particularly fell among students who said they were low-income. Meanwhile, more students reported family incomes of $80,000 or more.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-08-29-sat-scores_x.htm