The Structure of Intellect is a theory of human intelligence that was developed from 1945 to 1965 by Dr. J. P. Guilford and his colleagues at the University of Southern California. The SOI is the application of the Structure of Intellect theory to various learning situations. It has been in continuous use and development from 1965 to the present.

SOI applies the Structure of Intellect to learning— general education, reading instruction, remedial education, gifted education, training and retraining, and career counseling. SOI is applicable to all of these diverse areas because it identifies how human intelligence and its development (or lack of development) are related to demands of learning. This is described in the SOI Model for Learning.

The SOI was founded by Dr. Mary Meeker, a student of Guilford. During her teaching career at University of Southern California, Loyola-Marymount, and the University of California, Northridge, Dr. Meeker researched Guilford's model and validated its relevance to education.

In every learning situation assumptions are made about the learner's cognitive abilities (see the SOI Model for Learning). When the student meets these assumptions, learning is relatively easy. But when the learner does not meet these assumptions, learning can be difficult or even impossible. In order to best equip a student for learning we need to insure that he or she has developed the cognitive abilities assumed by the learning situation.

These cognitive abilities are very specific and very specifically related to different learning tasks. Thus, the cognitive abilities necessary for learning to read are not the same as the cognitive abilities necessary for learning mathematics. The SOI approach, then, is to prepare students for learning tasks by insuring that they have developed the necessary cognitive abilities.

Reading is not merely a subject area, it is the rite of passage into the rest of the curriculum. We can prepare the preschooler and kindergartner for the reading instruction they will encounter in the first grade. For the second or third grader who has not learned to read well, we can provide an effective bridge back to the appropriate reading instruction. We can also provide effective recovery for the student who has received years of remedial reading and is still functionally illiterate.

The key to preparation, remediation, and recovery in reading is diagnosis:

• What is the first grade teacher expecting from the students? We will prepare the students to meet those expectations.
• Why has the second- or third-grade student not connected with the reading instruction? We will find the reason and remedy the problem.
• Why have years of standard remedial reading not been effective for the older student? We will look for the impediments and correct them.