Grade inflation is causing student's hard work to be undervalued. As high grades get easier and easier to achieve, the highest grades can only go up so far. The difference between excellent and decent is compressed. Everybody wins is a system that guides and shapes the mindset of most American students--except a small number of kids who lose out in their quest to distinguish themselves. It's easy to dismiss those kids, and their often-foreign-born parents, as hypercompetitive and out of step with the times. Why do they need to compare themselves to anyone else? They got good grades. So what if everyone else did, too? In order to reinvigorate the culture of meritocracy and achievement in schools the author suggests the following: (1) restore the SAT and ACT, but also expand and broaden the assessments and include data; (2) combat the idea that lower standards are an equity win; and (3) overcome the fear that competition and stress will hurt young people. To remain competitive and secure as a nation, America must expect young people to strive to reach their full potential and give them every chance to do so.