Re: This just in: House Passes Cybersecurity Measure CISPA [US]
Correlation is not causality, yet correlation is present, are you a betting man? For your sake I hope not. 
No, I am not a gambler. I suspect I would get kicked out of Vegas very quickly, and I've never had any inclination to test that theory.You're going the long way around the block to put something there that does not need to be, it simply is what it is. Your claim "Scores have declined over the years because a fair portion of the public has realized that standardized tests are no measure of future success and has stopped treating them as such" if true, supports the notion that dumbing down is simply broadly based much more readily than that this "public" you say exists has any basis for the supposed belief. After 40 years of a headlong escape into superstition and parochialism by large portions of the U.S. populace one would expect that to be the case.
I'm not saying the "public" has any basis for the belief, I'm saying that they have that belief. Whether the belief is valid or not is effectively irrelevant, but if you wish to debate it, I won't disappoint you. In my humble opinion the majority, though not all, of standardized tests are not an effective measure of future success because they measure abilities not often required in the workplace (such as handwriting a 25-minute timed essay) and fail to measure the skills most integral to success in the workplace (e.g. collaboration and ingenuity).
[...] the notion that dumbing down is simply broadly based [...]
I'm afraid I'm not sure exactly what you are referring to here. Can you clarify?
BTW, what's the highest grade/level of education that you have successfully completed?
I do not understand how insulting my intelligence helps your argument, please enlighten me.