EDC's History

EDC was founded in 1958 by university scholars and researchers who saw the need for an independent, free-standing institution that could bring together academics and teachers, business and community leaders, creative artists, and talented researchers to achieve reform of science and mathematics curricula. That collaborative, inclusive spirit has remained a guiding force through the years, producing a distinctive working style.

At its founding, EDC was unique. There were no federally funded regional laboratories and centers or other nonprofit (or, for that matter) profit-making research and development organizations working broadly on issues of national and international import in education. EDC's appearance on the scene coincided with a growing national investment in the education sector. From its beginnings, this institution was designed to fill the distinctive roles of catalyst, experimenter, and developer and to be an instrument for improvement and renewal.

As scholar and educator Jerome Bruner¹ said, EDC started off like so much does in America . . . in response to a gap. The Cold War and the emergence of the Russian space program in the late 1950s stoked American concerns about a glaring national weakness in math and science. Jerrold Zacharias, an eminent physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, brought together a group of some of the nation's top scientists, teachers, and technical specialists to develop a new high school physics curriculum, PSSC Physics. This curriculum, funded by the National Science Foundation, focused on science as the product of experiment and theory, constructed by real people. EDC introduced it successfully in schools across the country and eventually in many parts of the world.

In the decades following, EDC expanded to include projects addressing many of the major education, health, and social challenges facing our society. EDC's interdisciplinary social sciences program Man: A Course of Study won numerous awards, and the African Primary Science Program provided training and materials for schools in 11 African countries. In the 1970s and 1980s, EDC developed projects in the areas of child development, gender equity, cross-cultural understanding, health promotion, substance abuse, violence prevention, and institutional development. At the same time, EDC created an expanding range of educational tools, from videotapes to computer software. And EDC's international work expanded beyond basic education to focus on community health, nutrition, economic development, and civil societies.

As EDC grows in the 21st century, projects continue to build on the collaborative approach used in our earliest work. Our programs are never designed solely by researchers; they reflect the ideas and work of practitioners and the interests and concerns of learners. We develop programs in partnership with the people who will use them and balance their diverse viewpoints and expertise. While we maintain a strong tradition of creating innovative curricula and resources for students, teachers, and practitioners, we have learned that good materials cannot succeed in isolation. Now more than ever, we are contributing to comprehensive solutions to complex problems.

Our success in obtaining the public and private funds to continue our work derives from the quality and dedication of our staff, the excellence of our work as judged by our clients, and the importance of the issues we take on. Learn more about our current work in these areas:

• Supporting Children & Families
• Promoting Health
• Improving Schools
• Building Communities
• Integrating Work & Learning

From 1981 to 2006, Janet Whitla served as EDC's president and chief executive officer. Whitla was succeeded by Luther Luedtke in April, 2006. Whitla has written and contributed to numerous books and articles on a wide variety of educational topics. Visit these links to read some selected articles and essays by Janet Whitla:

• Learning in Times of Conflict
  From the 2001 EDC Annual Report
• Janet Whitla on the Evolution of EDC's Thinking
  An interview from the 1999 EDC Annual Report
• On Professional Development for Teachers
  Afterword from The Diagnostic Teacher (1999, Teachers College Press)

¹Jerome Bruner, one of the pioneers of cognitive psychology, directed EDC's Man: A Course of Study project. Bruner is the author of Toward a Theory of Instruction and other seminal works in the fields of education and psychology.