Asset Level Comparisons

The 40 Developmental Assets can be divided into four "asset levels" — an important consideration for community mobilization efforts. Mobilizing by asset levels can ensure strategic asset development efforts are targeted toward all young people and can address the important needs of specific populations of youth.

The following two data sets illustrate a similar pattern of distribution in asset levels. By looking at the asset levels, communities can clearly see that most young people are not experiencing enough assets.

Figure 1. Search Institute data from 1999-2000 school year survey of 217,277 students, grades 6th — 12th in public and private U.S. schools

When compared to Search Institute's data, the asset levels in Marquette and Alger Counties illustrate a similar distribution in percent of young people at each asset level.

Figure 2. Assets levels reported by Great Lakes Center for Youth Development from the 2002 survey of 2,128 students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grades in Marquette and Alger Counties

The challenge to communities is to discover avenues through which they can move young people from the lower asset levels into the higher asset levels.

In Marquette and Alger Counties, strategic mobilization efforts are in place focused on moving young people from the lower asset levels, 0-10 and 11-20, to the higher asset levels, 21-30 and 30-40. Great Lakes Center for Youth Development engages in applied research projects designed to discover effective asset-building strategies from our 0-10 asset youth to our most high-risk young people.

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Contact Judy Watson-Olson or Karen Thompson at (906)228-8919 with questions/comments
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This page was last updated on Tuesday, January 06th, 2009