Angela Duckworth is the genius in socked feet.
Named a MacArthur fellow last month, the Penn psychology professor snacked on candy and padded around her Positive Psychology Center corner office, cluttered with papers, a Wheaties box sporting her freckled likeness, and multiple copies of True Grit.
Grit is the plucky four-letter word that Duckworth owns, defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, "sticking with your future, living life like a marathon, not a sprint."
An academic supernova, and an infectious optimist, Duckworth views grit, along with self-control, as "the greatest determinant of a child's success," more than grades, tests, IQ, and innate talent. Studying students at West Point and participants of the national spelling bee, she found grit was the greatest determinant of achievement, "and can be unrelated to talent."
The great news is that grit and self-control can be tested and encouraged. We can learn to battle what Duckworth called the "hourly temptations, among whose modern incarnations I would nominate Facebook, Angry Birds, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and other pursuits which bring pleasure in the moment but are immediately regretted."
Better yet, Duckworth is utilizing many area schools as a grit laboratory, including the Upper Darby School District. "We're in love with them," Duckworth, a former Philadelphia middle-school math teacher, said of Upper Darby's faculty and 12,000 students, a diverse community where 83 languages are spoken in the home and just half of all graduates attend college.
The mutual romance began in 2011 after Assistant Superintendent Dan McGarry read an article about Duckworth's groundbreaking work. He was concerned about discipline, and the widespread practice of punitive rather than positive measures that appear to inhibit achievement.
Their initial two-hour conversation was followed by a meeting the next day. Duckworth, 43, who launched a still vital summer enrichment program for at-risk students while a Harvard undergraduate, is big on making things happen as rapidly as she speaks. She labors in the ivory tower but flourishes in the school gym.
Duckworth enlisted top scholars from Penn and Harvard. They visit Upper Darby frequently, enlightening teachers and administrators. The district's two middle schools have been transformed into energetic psychology workshops. Parents are becoming involved.
The science is complex with dizzying logarithms, but the lessons can be blissfully sane and simple. "Kids and adults really need to learn to listen," said Duckworth, who earned her Penn doctorate in 2007.
Her work for Upper Darby comes at no cost, not a dime, for a fiscally challenged district that had to eradicate a $9.5 million deficit. It's a beautiful business model. Duckworth gets a bonanza of research, a town's worth of subjects. Upper Darby gets grit.
"This has been a godsend, the reflection of an unbelievable amount of time and effort," McGarry said, a convert to Duckworth's research. "I truly believe that this is going to change the world."
The $625,000 MacArthur fellowship means more funding and attention for Duckworth's lab. She recently received tenure, and also moved her family, including two daughters, from the suburbs into the fire of the city school district.
When Duckworth learned she had won the prize, "I thought of all my teachers. My enduring emotion has been gratitude. I'm grateful to all the people who help without having to ask."
In the meantime, she spreads the gospel of grit while expanding her scope. Duckworth told me, "There's nobody we won't talk to if it helps us learn more about grit and self-control."
kheller@phillynews.com
215-854-2586 @kheller