In an effort to identify the elements of a strength-based approach to healthy development, Search Institute developed the framework of developmental assets. The assets are based on a national study and survey of over one million students. This extensive research resulted in a framework that identifies 40 critical factors for young people's growth and development. When drawn together, the assets offer a set of benchmarks for positive child and adolescent development. The assets clearly show important roles that families, schools, congregations, neighborhoods, youth organizations, and others in communities play in shaping young people's lives.

External Assets
The first 20 developmental assets focus on positive experiences that young people receive from the people and institutions in their lives. Four categories of external assets are included in the framework:
· Support - Young people need to experience support, care, and love from their families, neighbors, and many others. They need organizations and institutions that provide positive, supportive environments.
· Empowerment - Young people need to be valued by their community and have opportunities to contribute to others. For this to occur, they must be safe and feel secure.
· Boundaries and expectations - Young people need to know what is expected of them and whether activities and behaviors are "in bounds" and "out of bounds".
· Constructive use of time - Young people need constructive, enriching opportunities for growth through creative activities, youth programs, congregational involvement, and quality time at home.

Internal Assets
A community's responsibility for its young does not end with the provision of external assets. There needs to be a similar commitment to nurturing the internal qualities that guide choices and create a sense of centeredness, purpose, and focus. Indeed, shaping internal dispositions that encourage wise, responsible, and compassionate judgments is particularly important in a society that prizes individualism. Four categories of internal assets are included in the framework:
· Commitment to learning - Young people need to develop a lifelong commitment to education and learning.
· Positive values - Youth need to develop strong values that guide their choices.
· Social competencies - Young people need skills and competencies that equip them to make positive choices, to build relationships, and to succeed in life.
· Positive identity - Young people need a strong sense of their own power, purpose, worth, and promise.

A Program Based on Research

The Power of Assets
On one level, the 40 developmental assets represent everyday wisdom about positive experiences and characteristics for young people. In addition, Search Institute research has found that these assets are powerful influences on adolescent behavior - both protecting young people from many different problem behaviors and promoting positive attitudes and behaviors. This power is evident across all cultural and socioeconomic groups of youth. There is also evidence from other research that assets have the same kind of power for younger children.

Yet, while the assets are powerful shapers of young people's lives and choices, too few young people experience enough of these assets. The average young person surveyed experiences only 19.3 of the 40 assets. Ideally, all young people would have 31 to 40 of these assets, but only 9 percent of students surveyed report that they have more than 30 assets, and nearly one of every seven has ten or fewer. In short, most young people in the United States do not have in their lives many of the basic building blocks of healthy development.

How Assets Were Chosen
The 40 Developmental Assets were matched with the individual sessions by The 1st Quarter. The 1st Quarter looked at each session and asset individually, and by looking at the name, description, and definition of the asset as well as the objectives of the session, decided which assets matched with each session.

For more information on the assets, you can visit the Search Institute site (www.search-institute.org)