Grit
Grit is an emerging construct that relates directly to intrinsic motivation and has been shown to predict
important outcomes, including achievement (Duckworth et al. 2007; Duckworth and Quinn 2009).
Whereas motivation refers to an immediate interest or desire to engage in an activity, grit refers to
perseverance and passion for long-term goals (Duckworth et al. 2007). Thus a person could be motivated
but still lack grit if he or she focused attentively on everyday work but lost interest in a project over time
and failed to complete it. Research shows that students reach higher levels of educational attainment
when they demonstrate grit (Duckworth et al. 2007). Moreover, teachers that evince more grit tend to
stay in the profession longer and generate larger test-score gains for their students in mathematics and
language arts (Duckworth, Quinn, and Seligman 2009). Although there is a positive correlation between
measures of grit and later outcomes of interest, there are still unanswered questions about the role of
grit in student success and how grit relates to other constructs. For example, there seems to be overlap
among discussions of motivation, grit, and resilience. While it is important to clarify the distinctions
among these concepts before measuring them, sorting them out is beyond the scope of this report.