What separates the dreamers from the doers? The ability to persevere through failures and challenges, or grit.

What separates the dreamers from the doers? The ability to persevere through failures and challenges, or grit. In her noteworthy TED Talk, The Key to Success? Grit, Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth describes grit as the quality of sustaining passions and working hard at them over disappointingly long periods of time.

How does grit relate to education? Academic achievement is not predetermined by innate abilities, such as IQ. Research shows that the way students respond to their circumstances can have long-term effects on their learning and success. Educators can foster grit by reinforcing the traits of resilience, persistence and courage. Here are three ways to develop "gritty" students in after school:

• Create a learning environment that encourages calculated risk taking. Help students become comfortable with struggle by allowing them to get frustrated before offering help.
• Provide anecdotes of the importance of grit to the success of others. Explain how Steve Jobs was fired from Apple or that Michael Jordan did not make his high school varsity basketball team on his first try. It shows students that failures are a part of the learning process.
• Praise students for being determined rather than for being "smart." Focus on the qualities they can change and that will develop true grit. You will be helping students succeed more than by simply praising their achievements.

For more insight into the important role grit plays in education, watch Duckworth's TED Talk, The Key to Success? Grit.