This article has been published as a chapter in Behavioral Science: Tales of Inspiration, Discovery and Service (pp. 229-252), Holdsambeck & H. Pennypacker (Eds.), Beverly, MA: The Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. The chapter describes the role of the Columbia University Psychology Department of the early 1950s as the seedbed of contributions to educational technology and school reform. It recounts the achievements of some Mechner enterprises going back to the 1960s and 1970s and their involvements with the White House, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity, Xerox Corporation, UNESCO, and Europe’s Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. It describes the current work of the Mechner Foundation in the field of education reform.
