Resources for Professionals

Advocates for Youth - Rights, Respect, and Responsibility Curriculum

• Rights, Respect, Responsibility (the 3Rs) is a sex education curriculum that fully meets the National Sexuality Education Standards and seeks to address both the functional knowledge related to sexuality and the specific skills necessary to adopt healthy behaviors. The 3Rs is medically accurate, inclusive, and reflects the tenets of social learning theory, social cognitive theory and the social ecological model of prevention. It’s also FREE and includes scaffolded lessons for grades K-12.

Advocates for Youth - Sexuality Education

• This document outlines what sex education is, why a comprehensive approach to sex education is essential, and how funding for sex education works in the United States. 

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: Comprehensive Sexuality Education

• Find research-based recommendations and conclusions about what constitutes a high quality and effective sex education program. 

The Body Pro

• Designed to inform and support the HIV workforce -- the vast constellation of people working on the front lines of HIV education, prevention, care, and services. Whether you're a physician or a case manager; a registered nurse or a licensed social worker; a medical technician or a therapist; we're here to provide you with up-to-date information, valuable perspectives, and authentic professional voices.

CDC - Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool

• Using the HECAT can help schools review curricula and use the results to make health education curriculum decisions. It includes customizable templates for the curriculum review process and implementation. 

CDC - What Works in Sexual Health Education

• The CDC has established an evidence-based approach schools can implement to help prevent HIV, STDs, and unintended pregnancy among adolescents. It includes quality health education, systems that connect students to health services, and safer and more supportive school environments. This info brief focuses on delivering quality sexual health education—a systematic, effective way schools can provide adolescents the essential knowledge and critical skills needed to decrease sexual risk behaviors.

The Fenway Institute - Learning Resources on Supporting LGBTQIA+ Youth

• Access a large library of FREE webinars on various topics related to sexual health, including: Engaging Families of Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth, Gender Diverse Youth: Blockers and Hormones, Gender Diversity and Affirmation for Children and Adolescents, and more!

FLASH - Sex Education Curriculum

• FLASH is a widely used sexual health education curriculum developed by Public Health – Seattle & King County, Washington. FLASH is designed to prevent teen pregnancy, STDs, and sexual violence, and to increase knowledge about the reproductive system and puberty. FLASH is FREE and available for elementary, middle, high school and special education classrooms. High School FLASH has been proven effective by rigorous evaluation.

Futures without Violence

• For decades, Futures without Violence has been providing groundbreaking programs, policies, and campaigns that empower individuals and organizations working to end violence against women and children around the world. Find professional training opportunities and classroom resources for teaching about healthy relationships. 

Gender Spectrum - Educators and Professionals

• Gender Spectrum can help you, whether this is your first step on the journey to creating gender-inclusive schools or for those who want to take the work you already done into new areas. Access professional development opportunities, resources on gender inclusive schools, best practices in gender inclusive puberty education, and more!

Healthy Teen Network - The Teacher's Guide to Sex Ed

• The Teacher's Guide has 8, self-paced units that cover the basics of what you need to know to teach sex ed. These modules are free and especially helpful for teachers who are new to sex education or who need a refresher!

Journal of Adolescent Health - Three Decades of Research: The Case for Comprehensive Sex Education

• School-based sex education plays a vital role in the sexual health and well-being of young people. The authors conducted a systematic literature review of three decades of research on school-based programs to find evidence for the effectiveness of comprehensive sex education which provides strong support for comprehensive sex education across a range of topics and grade levels. 

National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12

• The goal of these standards is to provide clear, consistent, and straightforward guidance on the essential minimum, core content for sexuality education that is developmentally and age-appropriate for students in grades K–12. Standards are presented both by topic and by grade level.

Planned Parenthood - What is Sex Education? 

• Learn some basic best practices in sex education programs, what sex education looks like in your state, and some amazing digital tools for supporting sex education for youth. 

Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest - SEX ED TO-GO

• Sex Ed To-Go provides FREE access to basic, high-quality information on a wide variety of sexual health topics  for students, parents/caregivers, and professionals. The student-facing content is also closed captioned for accessibility and available in both English and Spanish. 

Professional Learning Standards for Sex Education

• The newest set of standards designed to help improve educators’ ability to effectively address sexuality in the classroom. These standards were developed to provide guidance to school administrators and classroom educators about the content, skills, and professional disposition needed to implement sex education effectively.

ReCAPP - Resources for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention

• ReCAPP provides practical tools and information to effectively reduce sexual risk-taking behaviors. Teachers and health educators will find up-to-date, evaluated program materials to help with their work with teens.

Stewards of Children®

• Darkness to Light’s evidence-informed prevention training, Stewards of Children®, helps adults prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. The training is two hours and features survivor stories, experts in the field, and other concerned individuals all providing practical guidance to prevent child sexual abuse. To learn more about this training opportunity, click here. 

Teaching Sexual Health

• Find lesson plans, teaching tools, resources, and more information to help you successfully teach sex education in the classroom.