The Mechner Foundation: Home Page



THE MECHNER FOUNDATION is a tax-exempt private foundation established and funded by Dr. Francis Mechner as a charitable trust. The Foundation's interests and pursuits are in the field of education, educational technology, research in the behavioral sciences, and promotion of the arts, the unifying theme of these activities being the long-term enhancement of the quality of life.		The Foundation conducts and supports basic and applied research in the behavioral sciences, education, educational technology, and school design as its current principal focus. An overview of the Foundation's activities is provided below. ° Demonstrating how the main tenets of modern educational theory can be implemented in the organization and operation of a functioning school. By creating and operating such a school, the Foundation seeks to demonstrate the educational benefits and the economic feasibility of replicating this model and using it as a building block of much larger schools. The article "History and Implications of the Paideia Personalized Education (PPE) System" describes some of this work and can be downloaded from this website. ° Development of a symbolic formal language for codifying and analyzing behavioral contingencies, and applying this language in such diverse fields as economics, law, business management, clinical psychology, education, public affairs, games, and military planning. ° Research on the technology and theory for learning and practicing any skilled performance, such as musical performance, athletics, dance, language skills, or martial arts. ° Exploration of the synergisms between neuroscience and behavior analysis. ° Advancement of the arts, including music, painting, and strategy games like chess. ° Analysis of contemporary societal and environmental issues.
The Foundation welcomes the possibility of collaboration with individuals and organization performing research in areas related to the Foundation's pursuits. From time to time, the Foundation has provided grants to support such research. For more information, please click here. DOWNLOADS on this site enable you to acquire our software and view, save, and print our publications.	THE SOLOMON LERNER PROJECT The Foundation is seeking to locate the most important paintings of the Ukrainian-born painter Solomon Lerner (1890-1963) with a view to bringing his life's work to the attention of the art world.