The document summarizes the work of The Relationship Foundation (TRF), an organization that provides relationship education programs in schools. It discusses TRF's origins, mission, and methodology, which focuses on teaching social and emotional skills like communication, empathy, and self-awareness. It outlines the outcomes of TRF's programs, including improved classroom culture, respect among students, student-teacher relationships, and engagement/academic performance. It positions TRF's work as part of a growing movement around social-emotional learning and notes the organization's role in developing a comprehensive relationship education curriculum for 21st century classrooms.

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Upon referral from a colleague of mine at the Harlem Children’s Zone, I first spoke to Michael Jascz,
founder and executive director of The Relationship Foundation, out of a growing interest in the new field
of relationship education and Michael’s unique place in it. A visionary, Michael created The Relationship
Foundation from a spirited drive to teach children what he wished he had learned growing up: how to
have healthy relationships with the people he cared about.
What I was to learn over a two month period of research, writing, and interviewing professionals and
politicians in the field was that the work of the foundation was running parallel to a growing trend in
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). ​SEL, in addition to and for the advancement of academic learning,
has over the last decade become increasingly important topic of research among child developmental
psychologists, established educators, and educational technologists. ​This academic innovation has
morphed into public discussions by neuroscience researchers, members of elite academic circles,
international organizations, national legislators, and a new generation of teachers conducting their own
socio-emotional programs, all of which conclude that SEL is needed in the school system. Seemingly, one
small organization trying to make a difference in the lives of students in urban communities, The
Relationship Foundation is actually a part of a broad and growing movement.
Together with rising Hamilton College senior, Risa Nagel, a gifted intern at The Relationship Foundation
who I mentored for eight weeks,​we were able to tag team the issues ​- researching, developing, and
preparing an evaluation of the state of relationship education from a multigenerational perspective.
Along with pockets of research from other dedicated interns and building on Risa’s ability to synthesize,
shape and articulate arguments in her own signature style, I was able to see a whole movement come into
focus through the work of one small organization.
We were both surprised to discover the originality of the work at The Relationship Foundation, especially
in the context of a growing movement: nationally, with a recent history of legislation supporting
relationship education in the US, and internationally, with different tracks of SEL under experimentation
by organizations in the UK, Sweden, Australia, Singapore, and China. What is more, in America, the
findings from this still nascent field may affect public policy and become a pillar of Common Core
education. In fact while we were drafting this paper, new legislation was passed through the US Senate,
authorizing federal funds for the in-school teaching of healthy relationship education.
While there are many small start ups in relationship education around the country, we found that the
carefully crafted lesson plans and activities of The Relationship Foundation lay the groundwork for a full
relationship education curriculum that appeals to teachers, students, and parents. What remains to be
seen is how such a curriculum would fit into our current classroom schedules. Perhaps in physed, after
school programming or, increasingly likely, by digital means - the need for SEL and relationship
education is so ubiquitous that digital application is a resourceful way to reach 21st century audiences,
and scale relationship education to meet the expanding interest in the field.
What follows is not a perfect document but a work in progress, a slightly out of focus snapshot of where
this growing movement is at the moment seen from the perspective of The Relationship Foundation’s
work in NYC.
--Susan Stratton, Consultant and Volunteer

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The Relationship Foundation, TRF: TODAY AND TOMORROW
The Relationship Foundation’s work in early intervention relationship education
TRF TODAY
Our Beginnings
Our Mission
Our Brand of 21st Century Relationship Education
Our Outcomes
● Changes the Culture of the Classroom
● Encourages Respect Among Classmates
● Improves Student-Teacher Relationships
● Improves Student Relationships with Parents
● Heightens Student Engagement
● Bolsters Academic Improvement
● Relieves Student Stress
● Prevents Harmful Behavior
● Meets CDC Criteria for Principles of Prevention
TRF TOMORROW
A Defining Moment in Relationship Education
● New Attitudes to Existing Social Problems
● New Applications for Early Intervention
● New Research in SEL, Socio-Emotional Learning
● New Legislation for Relationship Education
● New Push for Relationship Education and SEL as Common Core Curriculum
● New International Thought Partners join the Relationship Education and SEL
Movement
Our Innovative Approach to a Relationship Education Media
Our Proposed Coalition for Relationship Education: ​RelatED

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TRF TODAY
The Relationship Foundation is an educational initiative that combines the tools of Social and
Emotional Learning (SEL) and Collaborative Communication to teach students not only ​what
healthy relationships are, and ​why​it is important to have them, but most importantly, ​how​to
cultivate healthy, safe, and rewarding relationships that last.
Our Beginnings
Founded by Executive Director, Michael Jascz, The Relationship Foundation emerged from
fourteen years of Jascz’s firsthand experience as a personal relationship coach for adults,
families, and children. Seeing the difficulties couples had in communicating with each other, as
well as the confusion in what they needed from their relationships, Jascz created an educational
organization to reconfigure his work for the classroom capitalizing specifically on the high
school years, a critical time in young adults’ social development. For that reason, in 2008 The
Relationship Foundation was established. Drawing from Jascz’s experiences and his tried and
true methodology, the work of the foundation now blends the teachings of collaborative
communication, empathic listening, and critical thinking, shining light on the need for increased
interpersonal communication and socio-emotional learning. “​We spend at least 12 years in
school preparing for a career. How much time do we spend preparing for a relationship? Any
relationship?”
Our Mission
Across a variety of urban school cultures, predominantly in NYC’s five boroughs but remarkably
in public, private, charter, faith based, and home-schooling environments, we have found that
students as well as teachers and their administrators are becoming aware of the need for
relationship education: in a mid-semester evaluation of our relationship program, a student
attending the High School for Health Professions and Human Services, a career-driven public
high school in the East Village of Manhattan, commented that “before this course there were
things about relationships that I didn’t fully understand until now,” like “learning how to use my
emotions in a healthy way” and “communicating with others with understanding.” One student
from City-As-School, an alternative, experiential high school in the West Village, resolved that
The Relationship Foundation teaches a “positive and necessary course, and [it] opens a door for
many productive conversations kids should have.”
These students are not unique cases; many children, adolescents, and even adults do not
understand basic relationship skills. After Jascz led a workshop at Renaissance Charter High
School in Jackson Heights, Queens, a teacher observed, “it is often taken for granted that talents
such as listening, speaking, expression, empathy, and caring are readily employed by every
person.” As this teacher alluded, getting good grades in geometry, playing Beethoven’s 7​th
symphony, or winning a soccer match are not all that must be taught: the same instruction and
practice often dedicated to curricular accomplishments is also necessary in developing
relationship skills.

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Our Method
The Relationship Foundation’s fundamental practices are these: 1) ​collaborative
communication​, a method of communicating that leads to productive, nonviolent conflict
resolution where all parties clearly express their needs; 2) ​empathy​, an aptitude for listening to
others, sharing in their emotional experiences, and acting in a compassionate way; 3) ​critical
thinking​, the ability to approach situations and relationships from multiple perspectives that
also cultivates a keen eye in analyzing academic matters; 4) ​self-awareness, ​the articulation and
understanding of one’s social and emotional needs; 5) ​acceptance​, the realization that
everything everyone does is an attempt to meet a need and the disintegration of personal
judgments, like should and shouldn’t, and good and evil.
Jascz synthesized his real world school based teachings into a rubric we now call Healthy
Relationships 101, the cornerstone of The Relationship Foundation. Healthy Relationships 101
uses our fivefold definition of social and emotional learning to tackle issues that are relevant to
high school students; it centers on issues students care about and face everyday. In Healthy
Relationships 101, we cover the signs of abusive relationships, normalization of domestic
violence, siege of media images affecting adolescents’ self-esteem and body image, limitations of
stringent gender roles, usefulness of empathic bullying prevention, and depreciation of
interpersonal communication in the face of excessive technology use.
From our work in varied school cultures, by way of the classroom, after school activities,
professional development, and staff training programs, we have found that learning about
relationships excites students, and addressing relevant social issues serves to amplify their
earnest interest. A student from Palmer Trinity High School, a private episcopal high school in
Miami, Florida, “found the element of corrupted beauty very powerful: how we sometimes hate
ourselves over a picture in a tabloid that might not even be real,” after we led an in-class exercise
on body image, self-esteem, and media overload. In this case, as in many cases, the
transformation can be immediate.
Further, when relationships and relevant social issues are taught in tandem with our interactive
learning style, students’ engagement increases and lessons stick. Healthy Relationships 101
utilizes dynamic classroom activities, such as role-play, full class discussions, student journals
for self-reflection, contemporary media analysis of videos and articles, and creative projects as
an outlet for additional self-expression and individuality. This style of teaching creates an
environment in which students “have a voice and in which their concerns, feelings, and needs
are valued and addressed,” as Suzanne Arnold, the Coordinator of Student Support and Healthy
Education at Renaissance Charter High School, phrased it.
Heavy reliance on student involvement, participation, and feedback, and our straightforward,
approachable explanation of social and emotional learning is reflected in our library of assets
that we have collected over the past seven years. Our assemblage of student, teacher, and
administrative evaluations, art work, projects, lesson plans, and the like attest to the need for
relationship education and the potential benefits it can bring to students, teachers, the
classroom environment, and parents at home.

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Our qualitative and observational data has been supported by a recent flashpoint in education
research. Synthesizing 213 studies in social and emotional learning, the​Society for Research in
Child Development​conducted a meta-analysis of ​School Based Universal Interventions on
Students’ Social and Emotional Learning​in 2011 ​
. Compatible with our observational and
1
qualitative findings, the meta-analysis from the 2011 study concluded that: “SEL programs
yielded significant positive effects on targeted social-emotional competencies and attitudes
about self, others, and school. They also enhanced students’ behavioral adjustment in the form
of increased pro-social behavior” and, most notably, “improved academic performance on
achievement tests and grades.” Moreover, the effects “remained statistically significant for a
minimum of six months after the intervention,” showing the potential for long-term change in
the minds and behaviors of students.
Our Brand of 21st Century Relationship Education
Traditionally, relationship education brings to mind a pre-emptive marriage counseling of sorts,
but relationship education should not solely be relegated to a decades old notion of romantic
relationships. Today, humans’ complex social networks are known to all be of importance. The
organized learning of relationship education encompasses a variety of relationships with friends,
family, coworkers, neighbors, etc. in addition to those with significant others.
More well known outside of research circles is character education. Frequently confused ​with
SEL, cha​racter education includes relationship builders, such as empathy, listening, and
communication. Yet, The Relationship Foundations sees some fundamental differences with
SEL and character education. Firstly, the commonly stated purpose of character education is
promoting proper citizenry, via ‘responsible’ and ‘ethical’ decision-making, all the makings of a
‘good’ student. The Relationship Foundation interprets ‘good’, ‘responsible’, and ‘ethical’ as
subjective moral judgments. When an authority presents these labels as goals to aspire to,
students receive messages that are incompatible with effective social and emotional learning:
you must try to be ‘good’ because innately you are ‘bad’; and therefore, authority figures are
separate from students in their ‘goodness’. Promoting the idea of a ‘good’ student can actually
stunt relationship building in the classroom, change in the classroom culture, and students from
genuine participation and transformation. Therefore, The Relationship Foundation focuses on
individual, self-directed growth​first​.
Over the last decade, a lot of early work has been done in SEL and character education; however,
there is yet to be a wholly accepted SEL curriculum put in motion that works for 21st century
classrooms. Accordingly, The Relationship Foundation’s work to date pursues research and
development of a relationship education curriculum, lesson plans, and activities, complete with
professional development materials.
1
​Society for Research and Child Development was conducted by a handful of research specialists and acclaimed
psychology professors, Joseph Durlak, a Professor of Clinical Psychology at Loyola University Chicago, and Roger
Weissberg, on the CASEL Board of Directors and Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Education at University
of Illinois in Chicago.

6. 6
Starting in city centers, Healthy Relationships 101 has been built largely on the needs of existing
urban classrooms. Yet, by working in a diversity of communities, our program has proven
VIABLE in all girls schools, faith-based institutions, large multicultural high schools, schools for
the gifted and talented, schools in economically disadvantaged areas and in affluent
neighborhoods. Using what we have learned across a variety of urban communities, Healthy
Relationships 101 has developed into a remarkably adaptable program, one which will translate
well into suburban, rural, and small town classrooms around America.
Our Outcomes
Heavy reliance on student and teacher involvement, participation, and feedback, and our
straightforward, approachable explanation of social and emotional learning is reflected in our
interactive learning style and the library of assets we have collected over the past seven years. In
analyzing our collection of qualitative data, the need for relationship education, specifically
carried out by the methodology of Healthy Relationships 101, is more than clear. Following are
the enumerated changes The Relationship Foundation, along with students, teachers, and
parents have commonly observed in the classroom environment.
● Changes the Culture of the Classroom
Though Healthy Relationship 101 is focused on students finding support in meaningful personal
relationships, perhaps the program’s most tangible impact may be felt in the transformation of
classroom culture. By using school time to further relationship education, the classroom
becomes a nexus for healthy relationships. The classroom is no longer just an instructional
instrument; it evolves into a supportive network of fulfilling peer-to-peer and peer-to-teacher
relationships that changes the culture of the classroom.
● Encourages Respect Among Classmates
The interactive qualities of Healthy Relationships 101 steer students to practice relationship
skills with their peers, thereby enhancing existing classroom relationships and creating new
ones. A student from the High School for Health Professions and Human Services commented
that Healthy Relationships 101 makes “this place in the classroom…like an open space to speak
about relationships” so that “classmates are able to share their ideas.” A New York City Lab
School for Collaborative Studies teacher, Katie Jungers, described the amicable classroom
environment of those learning Healthy Relationships 101 as a place where “individuals can
explore themselves as well as learn about their peers, so they are able to understand one another
on a level that prepares them for healthy and worthwhile relations.” Moreover, since this course
is geared toward real life application, most students find it easy to link lessons to their lives, and
eagerly apply their skills to personal relationships, both inside and outside of the classroom.

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● Improves Student-Teacher Relationships
As students begin to understand each other more, teachers also become aware of the social and
emotional workings of their students, personally and academically. This presents an opportunity
for teachers to become a better source of support for their students. Healthy student-teacher
relationships contribute to “students’ immediate and long-term behavior change,” as well as
fostering students’ “commitment and bonding to school,” according to a meta-analysis by the
Society for Research in Child Development. In classrooms where Healthy Relationships 101 was
introduced, teachers fully experienced an improvement in student-teacher relationships.
Ruqayyah Williams, from the Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy Charter School, said
she was surprised by “how quickly [her] interactions with students took on a different tenor,”
referencing the change that comes in student-teacher dynamics when teachers and students
recognize and understand each other as people with needs and feelings.
Strengthening student-teacher relationships can act as a catalyst for shifting the balance in
student-teacher interactions - a shift that, according to new research, is critical in improving the
potency of education and developing student leaders. By having teachers build students’
self-expression and self-esteem, Healthy Relationships 101 is a stepping-stone for students to
embrace a more active and synergetic role in their education. Yvette Jackson, Ed. D. and CEO of
the National Urban Alliance, internationally recognized for her work in assessing the learning
potential of disenfranchised urban students and a collaborator and advisor to TRF, writes in her
acclaimed books, ​The Pedagogy of Confidence​and ​Aim High, Achieve More​, that amplifying
and incorporating the student voice changes the traditional dynamics of the student-teacher
relationship to one of collaboration and mutual appreciation.
● Improves Student Relationships with Parents
In a journal entry, a student describes a how he neutralized a fight with his mother by referring
to a Healthy Relationships 101 worksheet. He applied the vocabulary he learned in class to
articulate his needs to his mother, and in a true moment of empathy, saw his mother’s side of
the argument: “I got into an argument with my mother last night and for once, used my feelings
list in my own arguments. I looked to see my feelings: aggravated, stressed out, hurting,
conflicted, detached, and mortified. Yeah I felt this but why? Did I have a reason to be? What did
my mom feel? Fearful, apathetic, heartbroken. I reviewed her argument and understood.”
Happy to have successfully resolved a conflict with his parent, the entry ends with a definitive
resolution to use needs and feelings, what we also refer to as collaborative communication,
again: “I decided to put this into use and keep it.”
● Heightens Student Engagement
The Foundation’s interactive method of relationship education teaches from the students’ point
of view; we cover relevant issues that easily draw students’ attention, and harness that
attentiveness to drive home concrete, fundamental lessons. Rebecca M.K. Centeno, Spanish
teacher at John Adams High School, a public high school in Ozone Park, Queens, noted that “the
discussions were heated” – students were passionate about what they were learning, and

8. 8
participated accordingly – but also that the classroom environment was still productive and
inclusive, where “everyone had a voice,” all lending to the student appeal of Healthy
Relationships 101. Another teacher we worked with, Ruqayyah Williams of the Harlem
Children’s Zone Promise Academy Charter School, was also “very pleased with the outcome of
the program and the level of participation from the students.”
From reading students’ journal entries it is apparent that students are heavily engaging with the
material they learn in class. In particular, one student elaborates on the profound impact this
work has had on her ability to maintain healthy relationships and empathize with others:
“Everything I’ve learned has brought me closer connections to everyone I hold close. I’m
watching people more, wondering what they’re thinking and feeling. I’ve come out better
because of this class.” Students are taking what they learn in the classroom into the deepest
corners of their personal lives. Healthy Relationships 101 presents a chance for uniquely
far-reaching engagement that has the potential to draw students towards a more meaningful
outlook on learning.
● Bolsters Academic Improvement
Unsurprisingly, as student engagement increases so does academic improvement – “high levels
of engagement are associated with high attendance and test scores,” according to a study
conducted by the Institute for Research and Reform in Education ​
. The Society for Research in
2
Child Development also found that “SEL programs are associated with positive results such as
improved attitudes about self and others, increased prosocial behavior, lower levels of problem
behaviors and emotional distress and ​improved academic performance​.”
The qualitative data we have collected reinforces these findings, and offers a possible reason why
Healthy Relationships 101 can aid students’ academic achievement. In a letter of
recommendation for The Relationship Foundation, Rebecca M.K. Centeno from John Adams
High School concludes that Healthy Relationships 101 teaches students to “meet their social and
emotional needs so they can focus on learning.” Ms. Centeno described a few student responses
that truly amazed her: “young women ​and ​men began making such comments as one student
Sylvain, ‘If we start making these changes, could we change how the world relates?’ Another
student Farzana confided, ‘Miss, without your class, I would’ve never been able to graduate. My
Dad left my three sisters, my mom and I. I would just stay home and cry but your class made me
understand him and not to judge him.” In helping students to meet their emotional needs,
Healthy Relationships 101 can give students an opportunity to better concentrate on school.
2 ​The study entitled, “Relationships Matter: Linking Teacher Support to Student Engagement and Achievement” was
published in the ​Journal of School Health​in 2004 by Adena M. Klem and James P. Connell, research managers at the
Institute for Research and Reform in Education at the time.

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● Relieves Student Stress
Twenty-first century high school students have to balance college and job applications,
extracurricular activities, social pressures, family, friends, and a regular load of schoolwork.
Students are becoming familiar with stress at an earlier age than ever before, and as the stress of
adulthood rarely absolves completely, adolescents should learn how to handle stress in healthy
ways. Being able to clearly articulate unfulfilled needs and feelings, potential causes for stress, is
a good first step. In fact, the Assistant Principal of City-As-School, Isabella Mackie, saw the
primary application for Healthy Relationships 101 is as a reduction in students’ stress levels: “I
have seen the results firsthand: student who are under high stress find productive ways to
handle life’s challenges.” While describing The Relationship Foundation, Jim Sporleder,
Principal of Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, Washington, said that our method “is a
non-judgmental approach which established terminology that helps de-escalate students that
are dealing with high stress.”
● Prevents Harmful Behavior
Through our sampling of classrooms, we have seen how harmful behavior can be prevented
through greater social and emotional awareness. In difficult situations, students learn to rethink
their knee-jerk, habitual actions in favor of collaborative communication and conflict-resolving
practices. Through our evaluation process of pre and post assessment, we observed a
transformation in one student from the Harlem Village Academy. When given a hypothetical
scenario in which a close friend embarrassed the student in front of peers, the student
responded that he would “give a comeback or hit them,” then he would “feel fine.” After
participating for four weeks in Healthy Relationships 101, the same student was given the same
scenario and asked the same question. His answer, however, was far from the same: “I [would]
feel ashamed and anguished towards having that person in my life at the time”; then in
responding to the situation, “I [would] stop myself before I’d react. Then I’d think about my
needs and feelings list to evaluate the situation peacefully.”
● Meets CDC Criteria for Principles of Prevention
The observed impact of Healthy Relationships 101 is reinforced by the Center for Disease
Control Principles of Prevention: Healthy Relationships 101 meets every criterion for an
effective prevention program.
3
Healthy Relationships 101 has
1) ​comprehensive services​, addressing social, emotional, and academic learning through a
variety of activities,
3 ​Established in 2005, as per ​Applying the Principles of Prevention: What Do Prevention Practitioners Need to Know
About What Works? ​Prepared by Maury Nation, Dana Keener, Abraham Wandersman, and David Dubois, for the Center
for Disease Control, and published in the official journal of the American Psychological Association, ​American
Psychologist.

10. 10
2) ​practiced and varied teaching methods​, incorporating hands on experience to develop
relationship skills,
3) ​follow up​, in the form of student and teacher evaluations,
4) ​theory​, backing its development, namely SEL and Nonviolent Communication,
5) focus on ​positive relationships​between peers, teachers, and parents,
6) ​appropriate timing​by reaching students at a critical period in their psychological
development,
7) ​socio-cultural relevance​shown by recent legislation and international interest in SEL,
8) ​outcome evaluation​in the form of integrated student-input as a the force behind the
program’s development, and
9) a ​well trained staff​, instructed by Michael Jascz, a 14 year veteran as a relationship coach
and founder of The Relationship Foundation.

11. 11
TRF TOMORROW
Observations catalogued from our Healthy Relationships 101 program, along with student,
teacher, and parent feedback, contend that socio-emotional learning and relationship education
may be an innovative development in comprehensive education. Our library of assets collected
across a variety of school communities attests to the fact that with early intervention
relationship education, the culture of the classroom changes to one of friendship, safety, and
respect; student relationships with peers, teachers, and parents improve; and when students
address their emotional needs, they can concentrate better on schoolwork. Particularly, we have
seen that our brand of relationship education, Healthy Relationships 101, is one that hits all the
CDC benchmarks for an effective program of prevention and works successfully within New
York City, the nation’s largest school district, in a variety of school cultures.
A Defining Moment in Relationship Education
With growing interest and recent breakthroughs in neuroscience and psychology, relationship
education and social and emotional learning have become topical buzzwords. They are the
newest wave in comprehensive child development. With good reason: compounded by current
events, public sentiment, federal approval, and international exploration, relationship education
aimed at building social and emotional competency has reached new heights of recognition and
support. It is a critical juncture for teaching socio-emotional learning and relationship
education.​​Riding the global attention in this area, The Relationship Foundation is now
prepared to take the next step to leverage existing work to research and develop a wide variety of
effective materials for the semester long in-classroom and after school teachings of relationship
education for high school students in urban communities across the country.
● New Attitudes to Existing Social Problems
America regularly struggles with its painful past (school shootings, community violence, and
sexual assault); however, the recent explosion of current events has made the recognition of the
need for widespread relationship education more urgent. Events in Charleston, the University of
Cincinnati, Staten Island in the outer boroughs of New York City, Baltimore, Ferguson, though
not unique as disturbing displays of deep-rooted racial bias, have revitalized national attention
to alarming issues that often slip under the radar. Public attitudes are changing towards gender
norms, ramifications of being bullied, the media’s glorification of ​violence, and mental illness,
which have prompted much needed community discussion at the local, state, regional and
federal level. There is a growing realization that these issues have a particular penetrating effect
on adolescents – suicide is the third leading cause of death for youth between ages of 10 and 24
4
- and yet mental illness, gender, bullying, and violence are tremendously​under​discussed,
especially in educational settings, where teenagers congregate daily and teachers can mediate
discussions productively.
4 ​Statistic from the Center for Disease Control, ​Suicide Prevention​.

12. 12
● New Applications for Early Intervention
The Relationship Foundation sees high school as a critical period in early intervention and
prevention: psychologically, students are in the midst of development, still able to change their
behaviors with relative ease, and strategically, students will soon be in college and the
workplace, where parental oversight and teacher interference is low, and drug and alcohol use,
social pressures, and sexual assault are high. Before embarking to college and the workplace,
students should be prepared. Knowing tools and strategies for cultivating and maintaining
healthy, safe relationships can serve to help.
Sexual assault on college campuses is another severe and relevant problem in need of effective
preventative measures. Last year, the media attention of a Columbia University student
protesting her university’s verdict that her rapist was not guilty, publically illuminated sexual
assault as an all too often problem at college. Multiple studies and politicians have addressed
this topic, citing 1 in 5 women in college have been a victim of rape or attempted rape, and the
majority of cases have been perpetrated by a past or current sexual partner, someone with whom
women have had a prior relationship.
Our new application of early intervention in The Relationship Foundation’s Safe Relationships
101 is underway to specifically address the problem of sexual assault on college campuses and
help students avoid abusive relationships.
● New Research in Social and Emotional Learning
While we were piloting Healthy Relationships 101, the research arm of the Collaborative for
Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), a leading organization of educational SEL,
simultaneously led a district wide evaluation. Their research supports our findings that
“developing students’ social and emotional competence is essential for academic and life
success.” For their research, CASEL has collected data from school districts in Anchorage,
Austin, Chicago, Cleveland, Nashville, Oakland, Sacramento, and Washoe County, Nevada,
showing the benefits of SEL are tangible and geographically boundless.
In SEL research, CASEL is the tip of the iceberg. The benefits of SEL in the classroom have been
a burgeoning topic of interest for educational researchers and academic professionals. The
Society for Research on Child Development published a meta-analysis of 213 school-based,
universal SEL programs involving 270,034 kindergarten through high school students. The
findings​shine a light on t​he significantly “improved social and emotional skills, attitudes,
behavior, and academic performance” of students participating in SEL programs. Additional
studies cited in the meta-analysis include ​Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional
Learning: What does the Research Say? ​
, ​The Prosocial Classroom: Teacher Social and
5
5
A popular paperback written by three psychology professors from schools across the country, and a researcher in
educational productivity with ties to the USDOE. Published in 2004.

13. 13
Emotional Competence in Relation to Student and Classroom Outcomes ​
, ​and ​Children’s Needs
6
III: Development, Prevention, and Intervention ​
.
7
● New Legislation for Relationship Education
In recent years, the United States House of Representatives and Senate have seen multiple bills
promoting relationship education as a preventative force against domestic abuse, bullying,
school violence, and poor academic performance. What is more, different congresspeople
present the issue every time, showing a diverse and unanimous need for relationship education:
Representative Susan Davis of San Diego, California introduced the ​Supporting Social and
Emotional Learning Act ​in January of this year; Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio presented
Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Act of 2015​in February, building off two previously
presented versions of this bill in 2011 and 2013; and Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut
initiated the ​Jesse Lewis Empowering Educators Act​, named after a victim of the Sandy Hook
school shooting, in April.
Though these bills have fallen short, the push to permit federal funding to support the teaching
of relationship education by politicians in the system has recently proved to be successful. An
amendment to the ​Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 ​(ECAA), entitled ​Teach Safe Relationships
Act​was passed through the Senate on July 16​. ​Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia and Claire
McCaskill of Missouri proposed this provision in February 2015. The inspiration for this bill
came a​fter Senator Kaine met with a group of UVA’s student advocates for survivors of rape and
sexual assault. Senator Kaine was “struck by how many of them expressed concern over the lack
of high school education on consent and healthy relationships.” McCaskill added that “one of the
best ways to prevent sexual violence among adults is to educate them about healthy
relationships as young people.” The US Senate’s recent attention and support of relationship
education further assists the dissemination of Healthy Relationships 101 and empowers The
Relationship Foundation as a major player in securing an exciting, potential future of federally
mandated and funded relationship education.
● New Push for SEL and Relationship Education as Common Core Curriculum
The recent passing of ​The Teach Safe Relationships Act​may be just the beginning for national
support of relationship education. CASEL, as previously elaborated, is at the forefront of
research and policy regarding SEL.​​As policy influencers, CASEL’s main goal is to shepherd SEL
into the principles of Common Core, standardizing SEL practices nationwide, just as STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) once had to undergo. CASEL’s research, and
private funding, prepares them to influence government policy in a forceful way that could make
the work of The Relationship Foundation federally mandated and of national interest.
6
An article written by two researchers at Pennsylvania State University in 2009 that highlights the importance of
teachers’ SEL.
7
Two psychology professors at the University of Delaware completed and published this book in 2006 with the help of
the National Association of School Psychologists.

14. 14
● New International Thought Partners join the SEL and Relationship
Education Movement
Though the United States is pioneering the movement of relationship education, it is not the
only country that has set their sights on universal SEL for students. In recent years, SEL has
become an international movement; from the UK to China, organizations, coming from all
different angles, have realized the importance of relationship education for students. Prioritizing
happiness as a mechanism for greater learning, Sweden has standardized programs addressing
mental health and emotional management. Since 2008, Australia also has a nationwide SEL
program, which is a part of their official curriculum. As of 2014, Singapore’s Ministry of
Education mandated SEL in all schools. The United Kingdom has an SEL curriculum in the
works under their Primary National Strategy. Similarly, China has multiple projects working to
implement an SEL curriculum, under the guidance of UNICEF and their Ministry of Education.
Our Innovative Approach to Relationship Education Media
What makes scaffolding Healthy Relationships 101 possible is not only the long reach of our
potential educational collaborators with wide distribution into schools across a variety of
platforms, but that cost effective technology to scale our programs is now with us. With our
content driven team, we look forward to researching and developing a full semester curricula of
Healthy Relationships 101 programs, and with the help of educational technologists and
innovators, create a​c​ross media application of our work, leveraging new and existing content
and distribution formats to form a first ever relationship education franchise. The Relationship
Foundation will be there with materials to meet the need for the market in relationship
education as it grows and comes into its own.
As a team we hope to take experiential relationship education beyond the classroom, to online
users with video and interactive formats, for those who wish to refine their relationship skills
through individual and group practice, and for those who wish to begin learning in a more user
friendly, convenient, and private way. So, when The Relationship Foundation cannot reach
people personally, we can still provide them with what worked for us, so everyone eager to learn
relationship skills can do so.
The nature of Healthy Relationships 101 is to cater to high school audiences with an interactive
learning application that can meet them where they are - in the classroom, after school, at home,
and on the go - in order to maximize social impact for 21st century digital natives. ​Digital
application will also allow The Relationship Foundation, with the assistance of recognized
partners in this field, to extend its vision b​eyond the four walls of the classroom, ​allowing us to
share our work with other domestic and international socio-emotional educators and leaders,
and even extend our reach to non English speakers here in the United States.

15. 15
Our Proposed Coalition for Relationship Education:​RelatED
W​e are attempting to build a consortium around relationship education, called RelatED, a
sprouting coalition between The Relationship Foundation, the National Urban Alliance, and
potential partners in distribution and subject matter specific areas. This will ​scaffold the best
practices of Healthy Relationships 101 and promote the work of the foundation’s pilot program
for high school students, across urban hubs of America in a variety of classroom cultures. ​In this
way, The Relationship Foundation will be able to accomplish what one organization alone
cannot. Combining the insight of The Relationship Foundation, with the best practices, solid
experience, and knowledge of the National Urban Alliance, RelatED can elevate The
Relationship Foundation’s social and emotional competency through widespread distribution,
expert development, and digital application of the Healthy Relationships 101 program to
students everywhere.
The advent of the acceptance of relationship education marks a new era for the American
classroom. For some, the underlying principles of The Relationship Foundation may seem too
radical or even extraneous. However, with the coalescing attitudes, attention, and increased
research being done on social and emotional learning and relationship education, The
Relationship Foundation is helping to pave the way for a forward thinking, more inclusive
approach to everyday learning. After all, as MIT urban theorist and architect, William Mitchell
reminds us: “If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.”
The concrete benefits we have found for students, teachers, and parents in the piloting of our
program and as part of a budding consortium, now positions Healthy Relationships 101 as a
pragmatic, tangible initiative. Beyond the benchmarks of heightened student engagement,
academic improvement, respect among classmates, and improved student-teacher and
student-parent relationships, it is also important to remember that the work we do in The
Relationship Foundation makes a true and immediate impact on people’s lives. After a two
month workshop at the Harlem Children’s Zone, the preeminent model for urban education and
an organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty, teacher Ruqayyah Williams
commented that “this program has the potential to be life altering” - and for students with little
to no economic privilege, life altering can mean a world of possibilities. In fact, Ms. Williams
believed this potential to be founded through her own transformation: “This program [Healthy
Relationships 101]... has definitely changed my life.”