The most effective way of improving education systems is to improve the quality of teachers; a fundamental step to improve the quality of teachers is to select candidates for training who possess the 'soft skills' or non-cognitive traits and attributes that are related to effective teaching. Prof. Robert Klassen’s research will draw on interdisciplinary educational and occupational psychology frameworks to develop an evidence-based teacher training selection approach based on an innovative situational judgment test (SJT) methodology. This is ground-breaking research, as current selection procedures are ad hoc with little or no theory grounding or evidence of predictive validity. The project will dramatically improve the accuracy of the teacher candidate selection process, build understanding of the short- and long-term predictive validity of the non-cognitive attributes of prospective teachers, and provide system-wide educational improvements by increasing the quality of candidates entering teacher training programs. The ERC funding presents an opportunity for a novel high-rewards approach to applied educational psychology research that has the potential to markedly improve teacher quality and educational outcomes.