Work on the SSMCIS program began in 1965 and took place mainly at Teachers College. Fehr was the director of the project from 1965 to 1973. The principal consultants in the initial stages and subsequent yearly planning sessions were Marshall H. Stone of the University of Chicago, Albert W. Tucker of Princeton University, Edgar Lorch of Columbia University, and Meyer Jordan of Brooklyn College. The program was targeted at the junior high and high school level and the 15–20 percent best students in a grade.
