Instructional Empowerment is leading a movement in education by redesigning how students learn and using data-backed research to increase student achievement and engagement.
Our classroom-tested model gives students the skills they need to thrive in a complex world while driving increased enrollment back to public schools.
Students from Shaw Elementary School proudly share a tool they used to self-direct their own learning.
Real Classrooms. Real Change. Real Growth.
Across elementary, middle, and high school partners, absenteeism fell by a median rate of 5.6%, over double the national average reduction (2%).
McLaughlin Middle closed achievement gaps and outperformed its district’s learning rates after one year of partnership.
Justin Endicott is the principal of Huff Consolidated Elementary and Middle School in Hanover, West Virginia. He and his teachers partnered with Instructional Empowerment to implement the Model of Instruction for Deeper Learning, which included professional development and coaching support. Justin shared, “I have seen achievement results from just one year. But more importantly than that, it shifted the whole culture of my building.”
Instructional Empowerment’s mission is to end generational poverty and eliminate achievement gaps through redesigned rigorous Tier 1 instruction that ensures deeper learning for ALL students.
We see our mission validated as students in our partner schools nationwide—including students with disabilities, English learners, and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds—develop the crucial high-agency skills needed for success in a rapidly evolving workplace.
Instructional Empowerment founded an independent Applied Research Center to ensure every project meets the highest federal research standards and works effectively in all schools and classrooms we serve.
A What Works Clearinghouse Certified Reviewer leads the Applied Research Center, ensuring everything Instructional Empowerment does is both research-based and evidence-based. We start with a robust theoretical research basis, then we rigorously test our methods to prove they achieve replicable results in various situations, across various populations of students.
Every activity, strategy, and intervention we use has attained or is in the process of attaining criteria for evidence-based practices under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
Researchers at Instructional Empowerment’s Applied Research Center have spent decades analyzing data from thousands of classrooms. Our findings show that shifting classrooms from teacher-directed instruction to a team-based learning model is the key to reaching ALL students. Achievement gaps close and students are prepared with the skills for a lifetime of success when classrooms foster:
What it means: Students lead their own learning through teacher-coached rigorous, collaborative tasks that build both academic understanding and essential life skills like critical thinking, communication, and teamwork.
Why it matters: Deeper learning helps all students grow into confident, capable leaders who can transfer their knowledge to new situations, work effectively with others, and navigate a complex, changing world.
What it means: Students are consistently challenged to think deeply, apply knowledge in new ways, and engage in complex tasks that stretch their cognitive abilities.
Why it matters: Rigor is not about doing more work—it’s about doing meaningful work that pushes students to analyze, evaluate, create, and persist through challenges.
What it means: Students take ownership of their learning by setting goals and reflecting on progress. They are active participants, not passive recipients. They make decisions, solve problems, and contribute meaningfully in the classroom.
Why it matters: When students have agency over their learning, they become more motivated, engaged, self-aware, and prepared for independence required in life and work beyond school.
In classrooms across the country, the shift to deeper learning is changing the daily experience for teachers and students:
Schools and districts value Instructional Empowerment because the work goes deeper than a program. We build shoulder-to-shoulder partnerships that strengthen capacity and drive sustainable improvement.
We partner with hundreds of schools and districts to transform legacy education systems, elevate the capacity of leaders and teachers, and shift instruction so all students become successful learners. We serve a wide range of partners, from districts seeking turnaround for their lowest performing schools to high-achieving districts aiming to reach the next level.
Individual teachers shift their classrooms to deeper learning through job-embedded professional development and practical resources.
School leaders build a small team of teachers to pilot deeper learning and see measurable results within 16 weeks.
Schools seeking sustainable turnaround benefit from a full-service partnership that includes professional development, coaching, measurement tools, and more.
Districts create systems to scale deeper learning across schools and continue improving year after year.
We share peer-reviewed research studies from our Applied Research Center and publish case studies and thought leadership articles by our staff of researchers, former educators, and award-winning authors. Our goal is to bring new insights about deeper learning to district leaders, school leaders, and teachers and make the research accessible and actionable. Explore our work and subscribe to receive the latest articles.
Connect with an experienced educational leader to explore how our partnerships work, best practices for effective implementation, and how we’re helping schools and districts build strong systems for deeper learning.
Our mission is to end generational poverty and eliminate achievement gaps through redesigned rigorous Tier 1 instruction that ensures deeper learning for ALL students.
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