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From the "when all else fails, lower your standards" department: Average reading and writing SAT scores for high school students declined to their lowest levels (dropping 1 point to 496, while math remained the same at 514). The article does note that more lower-income students with less access to high-quality education are taking the test, possibly providing an explanation for the lower test scores. At the same time, No Child Left Behind and its emphasis on standardized testing has fallen under criticism, raising the possibility that NCLB is the latest in a string of government failures in education.