New Data (PDF Downloads):
The Marquette and Alger County 2006 - Youth Asset Report
PSLAB Aggregate Executive Summary
Marquette-Alger County Sidebar Survey Report 2006

The State of the Youth (SOY) report is a product of the Great Lakes Center for Youth Development's Youth Data Center. The report is a comprehensive, strategic view of the rural youth development environment and the status of young people in Marquette and Alger Counties. The report includes basic demographic information, asset survey results, local "promising practice" highlights and data assessments and interpretation of the data.

The SOY report provides easy access to data about our youth and their environment. The centerpiece data for the SOY report is the aggregate data gathered from 8th, 10th, and 12th graders from schools across the two counties in 1997, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006. Working together, the public schools have utilized the Search Institute's Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors survey to gather perceptions of young people about the assets in their lives and their reports on substance use and other at-risk behaviors. In addition, thriving behaviors such as success in school and caring for others provide us a picture of the health of our youth population.

The SOY report presents an analysis of key issues in youth development that are supported by youth and community data. This analysis is provided to help guide community actions around youth and services for youth and families. Some of the key youth development issues described are substance use, the high number of low asset youth, caring school climate, how young people feel the community values them, adults as role models, cultural competence, and youth out-migration.

Great Lakes Center for Youth Development (GLCYD) hopes that the SOY report will help youth-serving organizations and schools prepare grant proposals, inform program decisions, train new staff, and engage in strategic partnerships.

GLCYD maintains a large database of information about Marquette and Alger County youth. For help in selecting data and using it, contact our staff by phone or e-mail. We can assist you in building fact sheets or develop comprehensive reports for your use as one of the services we can provide. Check back often and see what we've added to the SOY report as we will be adding regularly to the web site!