The Formative Five

Thomas R. Hoerr

Fostering Grit, Empathy,

and Other Success Skills
Every Student Needs
 The Formative Five
Overview and Bibliography

The Formative Five is a guiding tool to assist teachers and school leaders in preparing
students for success beyond their K-12 school years. Hoerr has identified the following
five formative skills (which are not typically measured on standardized tests) necessary
for success in both the work world and developing relationships of all kinds (Hoerr, p. 9):
1. Empathy: The psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of
the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.
2. Self-control: The ability to modulate and control ones actions in age-
appropriate ways; a sense of inner-control.
3. Integrity: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values;
incorruptibility.
4. Embracing Diversity: Understanding that we should recognize and appreciate
the differences among us.
5. Grit: Tenacity, perseverance, hanging in, and not ever giving up

Hoerr, T.(2017). The Formative Five: Fostering Grit, Empathy, and Other Success Skills Every
Student Needs Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.
 The Formative Five
Strengths

Provides tools to help students navigate through life changes they may encounter
and provide flexibility in doing so.
The skills are broken into relationship oriented (empathy and embracing diversity)
and controlling individual actions (self-control, integrity, and grit)
Each chapter focusing on a specific skills comes with an adult self-assessment
survey, student self-assessment survey, strategies and activities for both adult and
student learners, and a list of books that support the development of each skill.
The Every Student Succeeds Act requires the measurement of at least one non-
academic skill
The most applicable skill that translates to academic success is Self-Control and it is
broken down into five basic steps that could be measurable:
Developing Awareness
Complying
Goal Setting: Scholastic Goal and Personal Goal
Transferring
Monitoring
 The Formative Five
Shortcomings

When do you teach these skills? It seems as though it makes sense to

teach this in elementary levels with a classroom teacher. By the time they
are in middle school and high school, standardized tests and common
assessments take over the curriculum. Unless you had a designated hour
set aside throughout the week.
Parents need to be involved more with the development of these skills since
it needs to happen in every aspect of the students lives. Rather than just
sending articles home to parents (Hoerr, p. 165), perhaps a parent
engagement night.
There are a lot of great ideas to consider throughout the book, however at
times some of the strategies for developing the skills seem a little
inauthentic such as:
Grit Chart
Gritster of The Week
One time activities of collecting blankets for the homeless shelter
 The Formative Five
Value To Leadership Development

This book gives insight into setting goals for all building stakeholders. Not
just students, but staff as well are encouraged to develop team goals with
colleagues.
Hoerr provides many ideas for assisting in a deeper understanding of the
five skills with staff through professional development.
This literature assists in helping a school leader look towards the future with
a focus on shaping the schools culture which is built on six components
(Hoerr, p. 136):
1. Mission - what the organization will do
2. Values - guidelines for behaviors
3. Practices - how the mission will be achieved
4. People - getting, keeping, and developing the right individuals
5. Narrative - stories that convey culture
Place - functionality and appearance