In your hands, youth development research can advance equity and help all young people thrive.
Practical solutions to help youth succeed wherever they are.
Put our research to work with these practical solutions so that you can help all young people become their best selves.
Professional Learning
High-quality learning experiences that will inspire and equip you to help young people thrive:
Workshops to build and strengthen relationships with young people
Tailored learning experiences to fit your organization’s needs
Practical tools and resources to use in your classroom, program, or organization
Measurements
Surveys to help you understand your young people and support their development:
Give youth a voice with valid and reliable indicators of young people’s experiences
Gather actionable data and insights on developmental relationships, social and emotional competencies, and equitable practices
Measure growth and impact over time
Young people’s development is rooted in relationships.
Visit our Resources Hub for tools to build strong relationships with young people:
- Build developmental relationships in a class, group, or other setting.
- Discover how to create relationship-rich organizations.
- Ground your practice in trusted evidence and applied research.
World-renowned research to help all young people to thrive.
We use multiple methods and rigorous approaches in our research design, to understand and promote positive youth development at the intersection of foundational relationships and equity.
Current Research
Explore current research
Developmental Relationships
Build developmental relationships
Youth Development
Support youth developmentOur Impact
60 Years Promoting Positive Youth Development
Youth surveyed
Organizations served
Professionals trained
Developmental Relationships In Action
Download the Developmental Relationships Framework"Search Institute provides an evidence-based foundation about how kids thrive and succeed. If we build these assets around them, we know we’re making an impact."
Scott Matthew
Executive Director, Williamson County (TX) Juvenile Services
"The ability to intentionally help young people to develop strong relationships with adults and their peers is singularly important to the way that we do our work."
Stephanie Wu
Program Development and Impact Services, City Year, Boston
"Society depends on the collaboration of folks in neighborhoods working together to solve community problems. That can’t happen without developmental relationships."
Sarah Andes
Senior Director Of Programming, Generation Citizen, New York
"Search Institute is a national treasure. It provides the new ideas and the research America needs to grow healthy and successful youth."
Our work has been featured in
