We care about kids — anywhere and everywhere. We are addressing the toughest problems facing young people today, from working to turn around low-performing schools to studying and promoting positive youth development in some of the poorest nations in Africa.
We work to ensure young people are receiving the strengths and supports they need both in and outside of school.
And Search has been around since 1958 researching ways to solve those problems.
Through research and developing educational tools that work, Search Institute works to find solutions that turn some of these problems around.
Success in the 21st century requires mastery of not only academic skills, such as reading, math, and science, but also relational skills such as motivation, collaboration and self-regulation. Through research and initiatives, Search Institute works to make those skills attainable.
But we know that kids spend only 15% of their lives at school. So we study and work with families and communities to increase educational success. We translate our top-notch research into tangible tools and strategies for people who work directly with kids to help them succeed.
We focus on deepening understanding and working with partners to improve the lives of young people in three critical areas:
Developmental Assets®, Search Institute’s framework of strengths and supports, which has become the most widely recognized and most frequently cited approach to positive youth development in the world. Developmental Relationships, those relationships that help young people attain the psychological and social skills needed for success in education and in life. These have five keys to building Developmental Relationships Click here to download our latest research on relationships.