1. Grit and Educator Effectiveness

2. The Key to Success? Grit.

3. How “gritty” are you? Definition- perseverance and passion for long term goals; persistence over time to overcome challenges and accomplish big goals Grit Score Survey- what’s your score? Discussion- What relationship do you see between your grit score and life events that you have experienced? Examples?

4. Educator Grit Positive Predictors of Teacher Effectiveness by Angela Lee Duckworth a; Patrick D. Quinn b; Martin E. P. Seligman The Journal of Positive Psychology, November 2009 Summary of a study of first and second year teachers to see what factors affect student success (academic gains) Hypothesis- Commitment and resilience in the face of adversity might play an important role in determining teacher effectiveness. Participants were tested for grit, life satisfaction and optimistic explanatory style

5. Results of study showed that grit, life satisfaction and optimistic explanatory style separately predicted performance as measured by the academic gains of students. Note- “the most disheartening and discouraging aspect of teaching is the fact that results are so intangible and unobservable.”

6. How to Increase Grit? Not much is known about this yet. One thing that seems to help- developing a Growth Mindset. Understanding that the ability to learn is not fixed. Reading and learning about the brain and its ability to change and grow in response to challenge is helpful. Kids are much more likely to persevere when they fail because they don’t believe that failure is a permanent condition.

7. What does this mean for our programs? Discuss: What, if any, are the implications of this information for our new principals, counselors, and teachers? How can this information help our teachers, counselors and principals develop grit in the students they work with?