How We Evaluate Applicants

We select corps members based on leadership potential and other traits that distinguish our most successful teachers. Over the last 20 years, we’ve learned that it isn’t a specific personality type or background that helps predict success in the classroom. What you’ll find among our most effective corps members is a pattern of excelling with any work they prioritize.

Your potential as a corps member can shine through whether you’ve led your student government, achieved academic honors, managed a complex project at work, served our country in the armed forces, or rallied support for a cause that’s important to you. And those are just a few of the countless experiences our most successful corps members bring to the table. There’s also a specific set of skills that these individuals rely on and develop to drive their success. We’ve studied this intently over the years, and continue to look at how strengths in those skills influence student performance.
 

Here are the skills we seek to identify throughout our application and interview process:

• Demonstrated past leadership and achievement: achieving ambitious, measurable results in academic, professional, extracurricular, or volunteer settings
• Perseverance and sustained focus in the face of challenges
• Strong critical thinking skills: making accurate linkages between cause and effect and generating relevant solutions to problems
• Superior organizational ability: planning well and managing responsibilities effectively
• Respect for individuals’ diverse experiences and effectively working with people from a variety of backgrounds
• Superior interpersonal skills to motivate and lead others
• Thorough understanding of and desire to work relentlessly in pursuit of our vision