Feuerstein’s Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) program, recognized as an approved whole school reform model in the Northwest Regional Laboratory’s Catalog of School Reform Models, was developed by Reuven Feuerstein and colleagues and has been disseminated in the United States since 1978. It has been translated into 18 languages and is currently being used in more than 80 countries worldwide. In the United States thousands of teachers have been trained to use FIE, serving about 10,000 students.

All students receive 45-60 minutes of IE instruction per day. Voyager is the first school in the nation to have school-wide, daily implementation of this program. The program is designed (a) to sharpen critical thinking by providing students with the concepts, skills, strategies, and techniques necessary to function as independent learners; (b) to diagnose and correct deficiencies in fundamental thinking skills; and (c) to help students learn how to learn.

The fundamental assumption of the program, based on psychological research pioneered by Reuven Feuerstein, is that intelligence is dynamic, not fixed. Feuerstein’s theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability explains deficient learning as the result of a lack of sufficient “mediated learning experiences” prior to school years. He observed that such deficiencies could be corrected at any later time by providing mediated learning experiences by well-trained teachers in combination with specially designed instruments emphasizing cognitive functions.

There are various instruments in each of the two levels: Basic (K-3rd) and Standard (4th-8th). The instruments are presented to students over several years. When guided through the exercises in a particular instrument, students learn to apply the principles to any problem or thinking situation where they are appropriate. Thus, although program materials are free of specific subject matter, they are designed to link to academic school subjects and life skills.

FIE has been studied extensively by researchers around the world. There are over a thousand related publications, hundreds of which report empirical analyses on the efficacy of FIE in various settings with diverse populations. Additionally, school systems in Connecticut, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and other U.S. states have evaluated FIE projects.

To learn more about FIE visit: http://iriinc.us Click on programs and then go to Reuven Feuerstein’s Instrumental Enrichment. Research data is also available on this site.