1985–1998
1985
Peter Benson assumes presidency of Search Institute.
Search Institute establishes a formal relationship with Vesper Society in San Leandro, California. Search Institute Board of Directors adopts a new structure of dual board representation with Vesper Society.
Five Cries of Parents, written by Merton and Irene Strommen, is published.
Source newsletter is launched to address major issues facing children, adolescents, and families.
1986
Values & Choices, a video-assisted sexuality curriculum for 7th- and 8th-grade students in public schools, is produced and distributed nationally; receives the Certificate of Merit at the 1986 International Film Festival in Chicago.
1987
The Quicksilver Years: The Hopes and Fears of Young Adolescents is published; it examines the beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors of 5th- to 9th-grade youth.
1988
A landmark study begins—Effective Christian Education: A National Study of Protestant Congregations, funded by Lilly Endowment.
1989
A grant from the National Institute of Mental Health launches the largest U.S. study on adoptive families.
Valuegenesis, a major study of adolescence and youth of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, is launched.
Search Institute enters a long-term partnership with Lutheran Brotherhood to help design and implement RespecTeen, a nationwide effort to promote positive youth development.
Search Institute begins studying youth using its survey titled Search Institute Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors through Lutheran Brotherhood’s RespecTeen program. In the first year, 125 reports are generated.
1990
The Troubled Journey: A Portrait of 6th – 12th Grade Youth is published, introducing the concept of Developmental Assets—30 building blocks of healthy development— which are linked to both the prevention of multiple high-risk behaviors and the promotion of school success, caring, and a variety of other thriving indicators.
Search Institute begins to focus planning and long-term visioning around the concepts of positive youth development and the creation of healthy communities for children and adolescents.
Merton Strommen is awarded the Philip R. A. May award by the Society for Knowledge Utilization and Planned Change.
1991
Peter Benson receives the William James award for career contributions to the psychology of religion from the American Psychological Association.
Gene Roehlkepartain joins the staff as publications director.
Values & Choices sexuality education curriculum is updated.
1992
Search Institute moves to Thresher Square at 700 South Third Street.
Search Institute co-authors a report with the Minnesota Department of Education titled Promising Prevention Strategies: A Look at What Works.
New mission statement is adopted; focuses Search Institute on adolescent development.
1993
Five-year project to provide resources and training to promote congregational effectiveness is launched in partnership with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and Lutheran Brotherhood.
Search Institute launches Children First, a pilot healthy community initiative in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth research report is published.
Beyond Leaf Raking: Learning to Serve/Serving to Learn is published.
The Teaching Church, Rethinking Christian Education, and Youth in Protestant Churches are published, based on Effective Christian Education: A National Study of Protestant Congregations.
1994
Growing Up Adopted: A Portrait of Adolescents & Their Families is published; receives national media coverage, including the New York Times and the Washington Post.
What Kids Need to Succeed: Proven, Practical Ways to Raise Good Kids, by Peter Benson, Judy Galbraith, and Pamela Espeland, is published by Free Spirit Publishing.
1995
The Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth (HC • HY) initiative is born, based on the framework of 30 Developmental Assets; Search Institute assists 35 communities in five states in organizing initiatives to build assets for youth.
Search Institute and Lutheran Brotherhood establish a long-term partnership to expand Search Institute’s Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth initiative nationwide.
Staff expands to 35.
Search Institute acquires resources, training materials, and a 10,000-volume library from the former Center for Early Adolescence (CEA) at the University of North Carolina. Peter Scales, the center’s director of national initiatives, joins Search Institute as senior fellow.
Uniting Congregations for Youth Development (UCYD) is launched, with a four-year grant from the DeWitt Wallace—Reader’s Digest Fund, to develop resources and training on positive youth development for religious youth workers.
Congregations at Crossroads: A National Study of Adults and Youth in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is published.
National Youth Leadership Council subcontracts with Search Institute for the Middle School Service-Learning Impact Study.
1996
Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth is launched nationally; 170 communities mobilize under the HC • HY umbrella.
HC • HY field offices are created in New Mexico and New England.
Search Institute is awarded $10 million from The Colorado Trust to create Assets for Colorado Youth (ACY), a statewide asset-building movement in Colorado.
Ongoing research into what youth need to succeed prompts revision of several asset categories and expansion of the asset framework from 30 to 40 assets. The Search Institute Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors survey is redesigned and in use for the 1996 – 1997 school year.
Two reports describing the urgency and challenge of building assets are published: Developmental Assets among Minneapolis Youth and Developmental Assets among Albuquerque Youth.
Starting Out Right: Development Assets for Children is published; establishes an asset framework for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, and elementary-age children.
Search Institute launches Assets: The Magazine of Ideas for Healthy Communities & Healthy Youth, a national, full-color, quarterly magazine offering ideas, resources, and strategies for creating asset-rich communities.
The Search Institute website is created.
YMCA of the USA contracts with Search Institute to prepare Making the Case: The Impact of Youth Development Programs, a report that examines the literature on youth development programs and the impact of specific program types; report is distributed to YMCA branches throughout the country.
Search Institute completes the external evaluation of the Generator Schools project, a four-year study of schools across the country dedicated to integrating service-learning throughout their curriculum.
Search Institute completes the final evaluation report of a four-year project for the National 4-H Council titled Strengthening Our Capacity to Care (SOCC): Staff Training for Youth at Risk.
1997
Search Institute releases new data on the 40 assets, gathered from surveys of nearly 100,000 youth in 213 communities.
Search Institute opens the Assets for Colorado Youth office in Denver with a staff of six.
All Kids Are Our Kids: What Communities Must Do to Raise Caring and Responsible Children and Adolescents, by Peter Benson, is published by Jossey-Bass.
Eight new resources are published and several others are revised to reflect the expanded framework of 40 Developmental Assets. Among the new resources is the Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth Tool Kit, a collection of stories, examples, and tips from communities with asset-building initiatives.
Work in Colorado, New Mexico, and other states prompts the translation of the 40 assets into Spanish. A full-color poster, 101 Asset-Building Actions, highlights key words and phrases in Spanish, and translation of other resources is planned.
Search Institute hosts its first annual Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth Conference in Bloomington, Minnesota, with over 650 people from 44 states and Canada in attendance.
The foundational book for the Uniting Congregations for Youth Development (UCYD) initiative, Building Assets in Congregations: A Practical Guide for Helping Youth Grow Up Healthy, is published.
National leaders join together for The Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future, a three-day kickoff event for the America’s Promise initiative, on April 27, 1997. Search Institute helps define the goals of the summit, develops the information booklet distributed to all summit participants, and participates in the kickoff event.
1998
More than 300 communities are mobilized under the Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth umbrella.
Publication of resources in Spanish continues.
Shema: Listening to Jewish Youth, a study of Jewish young people’s involvement in secular and Jewish-sponsored activities, is published.
Search Institute and America’s Promise join forces to provide a new survey, The Survey of Student Resources and Assets, to measure the five fundamental resources of America’s Promise and the 40 Developmental Assets. The Search Institute Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors survey, which measures the 40 assets, continues to be administered by schools and communities across the country.
Assets for Colorado Youth implements a public education campaign in Colorado and hosts a statewide conference.
What Teens Need to Succeed: Proven, Practical Ways to Shape Your Own Future, by Peter Benson, Judy Galbraith, and Pamela Espeland, is published by Free Spirit Publishing.
Developmental Assets: A Synthesis of the Scientific Research on Adolescent Development is published, offering a comprehensive review of more than 800 scientific articles and reports related to Developmental Assets.
University of Minnesota subcontracts with Search Institute for the Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study, an in-depth assessment of adoptive and nonadoptive families funded by the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse.
Search Institute expands to 70 staff members.
Second annual Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth Conference is held in St. Paul, Minnesota.
