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On November 5,
2001, Assets for Colorado Youth (ACY) convened a group of 21 educators,
students, and family advocates from the metropolitan Denver area who were
engaged in infusing strength-based youth development into schools using
the framework of the 40 developmental assets.
During the 3-1/2 hour
forum at Ana Marie Sandoval Academy in northwest Denver, participants
discussed their strategies and needs in taking the asset framework into
schools. Half of the participants were administrators-including seven
principals and one area superintendent. Three attendees were prevention
advisors or school psychologists, four were parents or parent advocates,
four were students, and one was a middle school teacher.
The forum was designed
to serve several purposes. For ACY, a statewide resource for asset-building
efforts across Colorado, staff were able to hear the needs of educators
firsthand as a way to better position the organization's products and
services to meet the needs of the education sector. Participants, on the
other hand, received ideas, inspiration, and motivation from sharing together.
Dr. Christine Johnson,
president of the Community College of Denver, gave an opening talk on
the importance of expanding options for student success and leveraging
strengths in the community to achieve her goal.
The educators then
listed the questions they came with before each participant shared highlights
and materials from their asset-building efforts. Finally, the group responded
to the question: "What do you need to move forward?"
Early results of the
forum are already coming to fruition in the schools of some participants
as they adopt or modify other educators' strategies for their own staff,
students, and parents. For example, Principal Deborah Lanman of Kepner
Middle School in Denver is moving forward with offering a Leadership elective
in each grade that is based on building the 40 developmental assets.
ACY will determine
in the coming months whether to reconvene the group or to hold similar
forums in the education sector.
Questions
from Participants
Question-
How do we build leadership in students, parents, and teachers?
Question-
How do we integrate assets: Where do we start? What are the most effective
strategies?
Question-
How do we break through resistance around parent involvement?
Question-
How can assets directly support learning and CSAP scores and how can we
be assured of having enough time devoted to staff and students to allow
asset integration? ("Kids are now seen as score-producers, not valued
individuals")
Question-
What are the best tools to demonstrate how to be an asset builder on a
daily basis in classrooms and to help educators understand that the asset
framework is not a program, but a philosophy?
Question-
How do we convince school administrators that the asset framework is not
another program, and that it has value?
Question-
How do we get students involved in making assets happen?
Question-
How do we network to better promote the asset framework?
Question-
How do we sustain asset-building efforts with new staff and new students
coming in all the time?
Question-
How do we measure the impact of the asset philosophy? How can we be innovative?
How can we better understand how assets can be integrated into schools?
Question-
How do we align the curriculum with the assets so we can make it a part
of everyday learning?
Question-
How do we get asset-building
initiatives on the school CSAP report cards? How do we influence the indicators
that frame school assessment?
Question-
How do we specifically influence the asset language so that people get
it conceptually and the message gets across the threshold?
School/Organization
Highlights
Overland High School
Student-
Overland High School and the Cherry Creek School District have youth advisory
boards that meet monthly to integrate assets into schools. The district's
Youth Advisory Board hosts or participates in community projects, encourages
drug-free and violence-free schools, and provides peer mediation. Youth
members do presentations in the community.
The district's Youth Advisory Board puts on a Youth Summit each year for
people across the community to define the "community values youth"
asset. The summit shows youth how to empower their lives.
Overland High School
Student-
Overland hosts an annual "Eye on Overland" week each year, coordinated
by students, and brings in speakers to promote leadership.
Overland High School
Student-
At Overland High School, Youth Advisory members sent around a student
survey to see what assets students think they have or not and to see which
assets to focus on.
Overland High School
Student-
At a community health fair, students helped sell individual asset signs
to businesses as a way to get sponsor dollars. The businesses put the
signs up to help promote the assets.
Cherry Creek School
District's Prevention Coordinator -
From the district's Safe/Drug-Free Schools funds, each high school receives
$3,000 and each middle school $2,000 for projects tied to the asset framework.
Columbine Connections
Parent Advocate-
In staff trainings in the Jefferson County School District, teachers are
asked to list every program and club in the school and to identify the
assets addressed through each one. This shows that the staff does have
time to build assets because asset-building is already happening in the
school. The staff only needs to be intentional about building them.
Districtwide in Jefferson County, the PTA is using the asset framework
to intentionally create a welcoming environment in each school. PTA members
learned hands-on ideas at the Healthy Communities o Healthy Youth National
Conference and from Clay Robert's publication, Great Places to Learn.
A soon-to-be-published report, "The American School's Fund,"
will tie character education to the asset framework. The report will look
at how the assets apply to each of 13 character traits.
Sunrise Elementary
School Psychologist-
To provide positive recognition for leadership and asset building, the
psychologist developed the Sunrise Awards. At the beginning of each month's
school assembly, students are recognized for their positive behaviors
and academics. The shift by teachers and students from deficit thinking
to positive thinking has caught on, and the number of awards has grown
from 3 to 25 per assembly. Award winners' names are posted on a bulletin
board in the hallway and remain up for the semester.
The school social worker started a "Garden of Kindness" where
students who were recognized for kind acts were given the opportunity
to plant flowers and work in the garden. Each teacher now holds a weekly
class meeting for recognizing positive acts.
Palmer Elementary
School Principal-
Focus groups with parents and teachers asked what was most needed in the
school. Parents wanted more student achievement and connection to the
school. A parent group now meets regularly to identify and implement asset-building
strategies. One strategy is offering after-school clubs. Now, 80 percent
of students participate in clubs-including homework, chess, karate, and
a neighborhood club where students get to know and help out their neighbors.
A Pep Night for Parents was held early in the school year, providing dinner
and speakers on the topic, "10 Ways to Help Students Have a Great
Year." The PTA gives asset calendars to each family at the holiday
program. Articles on the asset framework also appear regularly in the
newsletter. The principal now provides information on assets in meetings
with parents whose child is struggling.
Denison Montessori
School Principal-
Asset integration at Denison is two-pronged: student-based, and staff-parent-community-based.
Last year, the student focus was on identity and leadership. The school
merged bullyproofing, life skills training, and the assets into one program,
the Peace Program. One result was a talent show. For the adult component,
the principal sought the endorsement of the Collaborative Decision-Making
committee. She then sent out a needs assessment to parents and organized
a team to carry the message forward. The principal provided each teacher
with a copy of the ACY publication, The Power of Parents, and other asset
education materials, overlaying the Montessori philosophy onto the framework.
Parent engagement is now an objective for teachers and, as part of their
appraisal, each must create a parent-engagement portfolio.
East Middle School
Prevention Coordinator-
The top-down approach in this middle school exposed administrators to
the assets. Teachers received an introduction to the asset framework through
an in-service training. The findings from their students' results on the
Search Institute Attitudes and Behaviors survey, compared with the findings
nationally, helped move them from a deficit to a positive approach with
kids.
Students involved with after-school enrichment programs fill out an asset
survey for assessment. "Most Valuable Player" nights are held
five times a year in partnership with the local recreation center, drawing
more than 300 students to each event. The prevention coordinator placed
asset messages throughout the school: a banner over the school entrance
reads, "East Builds Assets," and each classroom has all 40 assets
and a framed message. Students change the asset in the frame each week.
Asset information is published in the school newsletter, and a library
of asset materials are available for teachers to check out.
Highline Community
School Principal-
The principal utilized the district's bullyproofing curriculum in conjunction
with a strong asset component to teach students the importance of a caring
majority. Teachers and counselors reinforce the behaviors. The principal
believes achievement best happens when students feel safe and valued.
He calls each student he passes in the hall by name. Students also learn
citizenship skills working with seniors at a near-by senior's center.
In five years, the school's test scores have climbed from the 30th percentile
to the 70th. The principal tells all new parents, "This will be the
best school your child has been to-if not, I want to hear about it."
To have parent involvement, the staff must build trust through focusing
on strengths. The school has provided day-care, hired bi-lingual office
staff, and conducted home visits to raise parent-teacher conference attendance
to 95 percent.
Teacher empowerment is a key component. Staff meetings begin with teacher
recognitions. Teachers are involved in all decision at the school.
Horace Mann Middle
School Principal-
The principal invited ACY to provide an asset training for staff in anticipation
of the school's "unsatisfactory" CSAP score. The staff identified
with the framework's tenets that asset-building requires a community-wide
effort. The staff designed a pledge of support for teachers, students,
and parents. These outlined the specific roles each needs to play to guarantee
academic outcomes. All parents who attended parent-teacher conferences
signed pledges. The exercise of defining expectations for the three groups
empowered teachers. The challenge will be determining how each group accounts
for what they do.
Cherry Creek School
District Prevention Coordinator-
The asset initiative came from a groundswell in the community and changes
are slowly taking hold around the district. Stability of leadership and
the ability to cultivate new asset champions is key. Bringing people together
to dream about what is possible, working together to make it happen, analyzing
the effort, and dreaming again is what keeps the initiative going.
Youth involvement is a big part of this effort. The youth advisory board
is very effective.
In one elementary school, students rotate through an asset leadership
class. One young student defined assets, saying, "Cells build your
body; assets build your soul."
West Middle School
Teacher-
In an 8th-grade elective, "Life's a Choice," students learn
about the asset categories, write a mission statement, and discuss the
possible consequences of the choices they make. The students take their
work home to have it signed by their parents. Parent feedback is phenomenal."
Students use the asset language and the framework carries over into their
lives outside the class.
Cherry Creek Schools Parent- Schools need to have staff, parents, and
students all engaged in the framework, and they have to start small. As
PTO president at her child's elementary school, she got the buy-in from
the principal, a group of teachers, and the school counselor, and created
a standing asset committee. Assets also became part of the school's accountability
plan-a critical piece to implementation. The Community Asset Project Board
helps broaden asset awareness districtwide and raise funds for asset-building
efforts.
Colorado Statewide
Parent Coalition President-
CSPC has trained both staff and 15 high school students from Lake County
School District in the assets. Working top-down with the superintendent
and principals, as well as with the student group, helps everyone work
together. The high school principal attended the student training and
is excited about supporting the students' efforts to infuse assets in
the high school. The student group plans to present the asset message
to the city council, school board, and community groups to give the message
a ripple affect. CSPC is using a similar approach with a group of youth
at Ranum High School in Westminster.
Monaco Elementary
Principal-
Teacher trainings on the assets and overlaying the asset framework onto
the Second Step bullyproofing program are helping to build a leadership
team that is strength-based. One part of this will be a schoolwide recognition
program. Another part will be to invite parent trainers in to discuss
positive identity. The principal believes her community needs to focus
on high expectations. She plans to create a parent study group that will
discuss parenting books.
Cherry Creek Schools
Parent-
Asset initiatives take time. Three years is a magical timeframe. The first
stage is reinforcing asset-building activities and becoming more intentional
with them. Then, connecting assets into school accountability through
school safety plans helps sustain the efforts. The middle school principal
has set a long-term goal of infusing assets into the curriculum in 3-5
years. The district's 2002 Youth Summit takes place Saturday, March 16,
at Grandview High School. The Youth Summit needs tangible outcomes-such
as creating a Youth Advisory Board for the Town of Centennial, and establishing
criteria for a youth-approved, Youth Friendly Business certification.
What Educators
Need to Move Forward
- To integrate assets
into professional development programs (in a climate where the focus
is on academics); to convince content-area trainers, universities, and
re-certification trainers that asset training is important.
- Determining how
assets can bolster Colorado Statewide Assessment Program (CSAP) scores.
- A directory of
schools involved in asset-building efforts.
- Ways to merge
the strength-based approach with academics.
- Ways to use assets
in evaluations.
- A future forum
at the district level that brings together principles, teachers, parents,
and students.
- A way to show results
from building the 13 assets linked to academic
success.
More ways to measure asset building with hard facts and data in order
to sell it to the nay-sayers.
- Hands-on ideas
for teachers and principals to take the next step after they have the
asset vision.
- Practical ways
for school staff to be asset builders (i.e. give each one a copy of
the 150 Ways to Show Kids You Care brochure and challenge staff members
to take one idea each day and use it with students, parents, or other
staff members).
- Ways to pull all
a school's programs together under an asset umbrella.
- Ways to share the
asset message teacher-to-teacher.
- Getting a group
of youth from Cherry Creek Schools to package the Youth Summit and take
it to middle and elementary schools.
The
40 Developmental Assets
External
Assets
Support
1. Family support-Family life provides high levels of love and support.
2. Positive family communication-Young person and her or his parent(s)
communicate positively, and young person is willing to seek advice and
counsel from parents.
3. Other adult relationships-Young person receives support from three
or more nonparent adults.
4. Caring neighborhood-Young person experiences caring neighbors.
5. Caring school climate-School provides a caring, encouraging environment.
6. Parent involvement in schooling-Parent(s) are actively involved in
helping young person succeed in school.
Empowerment
7. Community values youth-Young person perceives that adults in the community
value youth.
8. Youth as resources-Young people are given useful roles in the community.
9. Service to others-Young person serves in the community one hour or
more per week.
10. Safety-Young person feels safe at home, at school, and in the neighborhood.
Boundaries and
Expectations
11. Family boundaries-Family has clear rules and consequences and monitors
the young person's whereabouts.
12. School boundaries-School provides clear rules and consequences.
13. Neighborhood boundaries-Neighbors take responsibility for monitoring
young people's behavior.
14. Adult role models-Parent(s) and other adults model positive, responsible
behavior.
15. Positive peer influence-Young person's best friends model responsible
behavior.
16. High expectations-Both parent(s) and teachers encourage the young
person to do well.
Constructive Use
of Time
17. Creative activities-Young person spends three or more hours per week
in lessons or practice in music, theater, or other arts.
18. Youth programs-Young person spends three or more hours per week in
sports, clubs, or organizations at school and/or in the community.
19. Religious community-Young person spends one or more hour per week
in activities in a religious institution.
20. Time at home-Young person is out with friends "with nothing special
to do" two or fewer nights per week.
Internal
Assets
Commitment to Learning
21. Achievement motivation-Young person is motivated to do well in school.
22. School engagement-Young person is actively engaged in learning.
23. Homework-Young person reports doing at least one hour of homework
every school day.
24. Bonding to school-Young person cares about her or his school.
25. Reading for pleasure-Young person reads for pleasure three or more
hours per week.
Positive Values
26. Caring-Young person places high value on helping other people.
27. Equality and social justice-Young person places high value on promoting
equality and reducing hunger and
poverty.
28. Integrity-Young person acts on convictions and stands up for her or
his beliefs.
29. Honesty-Young person "tells the truth even when it is not easy."
30. Responsibility-Young person accepts and takes
personal responsibility.
31. Restraint-Young person believes it is important not to be sexually
active or to use alcohol or other drugs.
Social Competencies
32. Planning and decision making-Young person knows how to plan ahead
and make choices.
33. Interpersonal competence-Young person has empathy, sensitivity, and
friendship skills.
34. Cultural competence-Young person has knowledge of and comfort with
people of different cultural/racial/ethnic backgrounds.
35. Resistance skills-Young person can resist negative peer pressure and
dangerous situations.
36. Peaceful conflict resolution-Young person seeks to resolve conflict
nonviolently.
Positive Identity
37. Personal power-Young person feels he or she has
control over "things that happen to me."
38. Self-esteem-Young person reports having a high self-esteem.
39. Sense of purpose-Young person reports that "my life has a purpose."
40. Positive view of personal future-Young person is
optimistic about her or his personal future.
© 1997 by
Search Institute, 700 S. Third Street, Minneapolis, MN 55415 800-888-7828;
www.search-institute.org.
The
Assets and Academic Achievement
The developmental
assets are a research-based list of the essential building blocks of healthy
youth development. The 40 assets comprise the relationships, experiences,
and values that all young people need to grow up caring, confident, and
responsible. Five of the assets are categorized as "commitment to
learning" assets. These five assets and their tie to academic outcomes
are listed below.
Achievement Motivation
- Asset #21
- Increased high
school completion
- Increased enrollment
in college
- Increased reading
and math achievement
- Better grades
- Increased positive
perceptions of teachers
- Increased efforts
at school
- Better management
of stress and anxiety
- More effective
communication skills
School Engagement
- Asset #22
- Better attendance
- Higher academic
self-concept
- More time on homework
- Greater feelings
of support at school
- Greater feelings
of support at home
- Less drug use
- Less adolescent
childbearing
Homework - Asset
#23
- Higher achievement
test scores
- Higher grades
- Greater homework
completion and accuracy
- Fewer conduct problems
Bonding to School
- Asset #24
- Better attendance
- Higher academic
self-concept
- More time on homework
- Increased college
attendance
- Greater use of
"deep" study techniques
- Greater feelings
of support at school
- Greater feelings
of support at home
Reading for Pleasure
- Asset #25
- Increased time
on homework
- Increased reading
achievement
- Better grades
Source: P.C. Scales
and N. Leffert, Developmental Assets: A Synthesis of the Scientific Research
on Adolescent Development (Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute, 1999).
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