Surveys

Search Institute knows that in order to have an effective school or program, it’s important to address all needs of young people. Youth self-report surveys give schools, programs, coalitions and other organizations the tools to build stronger programs and impact the social and emotional development of youth.

Identifying Strengths and Growth Areas

How do young people experience life in their families, schools, and communities? Where do they experience the support and challenge they need as they grow up? Are they developing the social and emotional strengths, attitudes, values, and identity that they need for success in life? What risk behaviors do youth engage in—and what strengths and supports (Developmental Assets) do they have or need to avoid these risks?

Giving Youth a Voice

We have worked with thousands of schools, coalitions and organizations to help build stronger programs and give youth a voice in that process. Because our surveys give schools, out-of-school time programs and other youth facing organizations insight into what young people think and feel, you can determine what is successful in your program and bring light to potential shortcomings.

Surveys That Fit Your Needs

Search Institute’s surveys focus on:

Strengths, supports, and skills that young people need to succeed and overcome challenges

Measuring intangible qualities that make a difference for a youth’s development and education

Provide easy-to-understand, actionable results that help increase the impact in the lives of young people

Bring young people’s own perspectives and experiences to planning and decision making

All of our surveys include:

An optional one-on-one consultation to determine which survey fits your needs

Detailed user manuals and technical support to guide you through the survey process

Clear, actionable results to share with others and to help plan next steps

Our Surveys

The Developmental Relationships Survey measures the unseen factors that contribute to strong relationships between adults and youth. This highly-customizable survey will help schools and organizations look at their…

  • Developmental Relationships: Youths’ experience of express care, provide support, challenge growth, share power, and expand possibilities in their day-to-day interactions with staff/teachers.
  • Social-Emotional Competencies: Competencies that both prepare youth to engage in developmental relationships better, and that are enhanced through developmental relationships.
  • Equitable Environments: Factors that influence young people’s experiences of, access to, and equity-promotion within developmental relationships in schools and out-of-school settings.

The Attitudes and Behaviors (A&B) Survey gives a snapshot of the current experiences of your adolescent youth in your school, program or community.

This widely used survey is a reliable and valid assessment of the strengths, supports, and social-emotional factors essential for young people’s success in school and life. It grows out of more than 25 years of research with millions of young people based on Search Institute’s framework of Developmental Assets.

It measures:

  • The 40 Developmental Assets
  • 24 youth risk behaviors
  • 10 high-risk behavior patterns
  • 5 developmental deficits
  • 8 thriving indicators
  • Four Core Measures required of Drug Free Communities grantees

The Developmental Assets Profile (DAP) measures young people’s internal strengths and external supports, and their growth in these key areas over time.

The DAP measures the eight asset categories in a way that’s quickly administered and scored. In addition to looking at the data from the asset category perspective, the data can also be scored within five context areas. You can assess how youth are faring personally, socially, and within the family, school, and community contexts. The DAP is ideal for:

  • Group assessments for youth programs, schools, juvenile justice, mental health, and family services
  • Individual assessments by qualified clinicians, school counselors, mental health practitioners, and social workers

The Youth and Program Strengths Survey (YAPS) will help you evaluate the quality of your program, young people’s internal strengths and external supports, and integrate youth perspectives into your work.

This survey measures how young people in school- or community-based out-of-school time programs experience their time in the program.

This survey measures the program features and opportunities that define a high-quality program, which can protect young people from risk while promoting resilience and thriving

Expectations of Survey Users

Collecting survey data from young people requires following ethical, legal, and professional standards in order to protect young people and to generate quality results that can be used with confidence. Search Institute survey users must adhere to these professional standards for survey research. See the expectations of survey users and the Survey terms and conditions.