Grit

The Atlantic has a story on "what makes a good teacher." Apparently TFA has been compiling a database and is now unleashing it to answer this question. Further, their findings are not only useful for answering this question, but also the more general question, "what makes a good worker."

Here they discuss a trait called "grit" or "perseverance."

"If an applicant starts out with mediocre grades and improves ... that curve appears to be more revealing than getting straight A’s all along."