Great Places to Learn: Creating Asset-Building Schools that Help Students Succeed

Rooted in research on more than 2 million children about the effect of Developmental Assets® on fostering academic achievement and a healthy school climate, this foundational book is a powerful, positive guide to infusing assets into any school community. From building awareness to sustaining system-wide changes, a step-by-step outline guides school administrators, principals, and teachers through the process of integrating assets into their school, while firsthand accounts provide the creative inspiration to adapt the concept to any situation. The included CD-ROM features a wealth of reproducible handouts, charts, action lists, and assessment tools with tips and materials for everyone—from principals to bus drivers—included in the asset-building process. This new edition is updated with Search Institute's latest data and new discussions on bullying, school violence, and the effect of the No Child Left Behind Act on school communities. The handouts that were sold separately from the first edition are also included.

Neal Starkman, PhD, is the president of Flashpoint Development and the author of Connecting in Your Classroom; Hey, Coach!; Ideas That Cook; and Walking Your Talk. He lives in Seattle. Peter C. Scales, PhD, is a developmental psychologist at Search Institute. He is the author of Other People's Kids, A Portrait of Young Adolescents in the 1990s, and The Sexual Adolescent and the coauthor of Developmental Assets. He is a former national director of education for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, director of national initiatives for the Center of Early Adolescence at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, and chair of the Alaska Governor's Commission on Children and Youth. He is the recipient of the U.S. Administration for Children, Youth, and Families' Commissioner Award. He lives in St. Louis. Clay Roberts, MS, is a senior trainer with Vision Training Associates and the founder of Roberts & Associates, a national educational consulting firm that has advised the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Cancer Institute, the Disney Channel, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and the American Medical Association. He has been featured on NBC's Today Show as a prevention expert, and his programs have been highlighted on Frontline and in Good Housekeeping, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report. He lives in Bellevue, Washington.