McKay School of Education > Deans > McKay School of Education :: Alliances

Alliances for the Strength of Youth

The Alliances for the Strength of Youth (ASY) is an organization in the McKay School of Education which promotes interdisciplinary research.

ASY Goals:

• Promote interdisciplinary research
• Share ideas
• Learn of existing collaborative initiatives that promote academic success and emotional resilience among children and youth

All faculty members in the McKay School of Education are invited to attend the monthly meetings. As projects are identified, other BYU departments, partnership schools, and content area experts will also become involved in the research.

Tim Smith, who is directing ASY, calls attention to three important benefits from forming these alliances.  “First,” Smith says, “[the alliances] will increase the scope and consequence of the work conducted in the David O. McKay School of Education. Teams of scholars and educators across departments and partnership schools can address questions that are more difficult and consequential and that result in wider impact than would be possible for individuals or small homogeneous groups.” Project members can benefit from one another’s expertise and experience. Through collaboration, scholars and educators working on projects can complete the full “research and development cycle” by generating research-informed interventions or products that can be evaluated, refined, and disseminated widely.

“Second,” Smith continues, “ it will increase access to resources. Financial support for major research and educational interventions typically comes from large grants, and the ASY is designed to increase the likelihood of such proposals being funded. For example, the ASY sponsors a 'seed grant' competition with up to $25,000 in annual funding for projects. Furthermore, through the alliances, faculty can compete for funds through private organizations that do not consider grant proposals from individuals.”

The third benefit of the ASY noted by Smith is promoting interventions for children and youth. He says, “Perhaps the most important benefit of establishing the Alliances for the Strength of Youth will [be to] focus efforts to assist children and youth in the schools. In his visit to the MSE, Elder Henry B. Eyring invited faculty members to tackle the ‘tough questions’ facing educators and to produce solutions to major problems facing children and youth. The ASY is designed to do exactly that. By producing high quality interventions and scholarship, the ASY will be in a stronger position to influence national trends in education than is currently possible in the MSE.”

Those interested in learning more about the Alliances for the Strength of Youth may email shauna_valentine@byu.edu.