I own a tutoring company and your child’s 4.0 GPA probably isn’t real

College application deadlines in January are approaching. As they do, students and especially parents are having tough conversations and revising their school lists and expectations in one direction: downward. Ninety percent of parents believe that their children are at or above grade level proficiency, yet, according to standardized measures, 12th-grade students have the lowest math and reading preparedness on record. Only 22% of 12th-grade students are proficient in math, and only 35% in reading.