Meet the Team
And We are Hiring!!!
Rene Kizilcec
Principal Investigator
Rene is an Associate Professor in the Bowers College of Computing and Information Science at Cornell University. He studies behavioral, psychological, and computational aspects of technology in education to inform practices and policies that promote learning, equity, and academic and career success.
Justin Reich
Co-Principal Investigator
Justin is an Associate Professor in the Comparative Media Studies/Writing department at MIT. He studies online learning, and how teachers learn. Justin is a former high school history teacher, wrestling coach, and wilderness medicine instructor.
Rachel Slama
Partnership Director & Co-PI
Rachel is the director of the labor and workforce development program and a senior policy researcher at RAND. Slama previously served as co-director of the Teaching Systems Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a research and design lab comprised of learning scientists, engineers, and STEM education and simulation experts.
Ken Koedinger
Co-Principal Investigator
Ken is the Hillman Professor of Computer Science and Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University and the founder of PLUS tutoring. A pioneering innovator in education technology, he co-founded Carnegie Learning, Inc., which has delivered Cognitive Tutor-based courses to millions of students.
Danielle Thomas
Interim Research Director
Danielle is a Systems Scientist faculty in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. She also is the Research Lead at PLUS tutoring, where Danielle has led her team in publishing considerable progress towards understanding tutor-student and human-AI interactions in learning.
Doug Pietrzak
Technology Director
Doug is an educator at heart — a former CPS English teacher focused on equity who combines his passion of tech and education to drive impactful learning experiences and products at scale. He is one of the original members of Lynda.com and EdX and was a major contributor to education at Google. He is the CEO of Freshcognate.
Laura Schad
Project Manager
Laura is a Program Manager at the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, where she plays a key role in driving strategic initiatives within the institution. She manages a diverse portfolio of research-focused programs and projects that foster innovation and collaboration across various domains of computing and information science.
Georgia Watts
Senior Product Manager
Georgia is a product leader solving user problems and creating accessible, compelling, and intuitive experiences. With extensive expertise in understanding user needs through both qualitative and quantitative research, she transforms insights into impactful products that delight users and drive meaningful outcomes. At the National Tutoring Observatory, she leads the development of open-source tools that help researchers and practitioners make sense of complex tutoring data.
Joshua Marland
Managing Director
Josh is the Managing Director for the National Tutoring Observatory. He has worked in a variety of education data and technology roles for almost 20 years. He's driven by finding new ways to create opportunities for those not served by traditional systems and structures. His research has focused at the intersection of measurement and policy. He's the first in his family to go to college and a proud community college graduate.
Daryl hedley
Senior Education Product Manager
Daryl Hedley is a product engineer building practical, data-driven tools to empower teachers and enhance both tutoring sessions and classroom instruction.
He has worked in learning and technology for over 20 years, building scalable data pipelines, applying AI to learning challenges, and building a range of educational technologies.
At the National Tutoring Observatory, he leads the engineering of open-source tools that help researchers and practitioners make sense of complex tutoring data and is committed to creating impactful solutions that drive measurable improvements in teaching and student outcomes.
Stacey Stone
Partnership Manager
Stacey is the Partnership Manager for the National Tutoring Observatory. In addition, she is the Chair's Assistant in the Department of Computer Science within the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science.
Job Openings
Research Director
The Research Director will be tasked with leading a team to generate scientific research that probes and enhances the quality of the MTM data and components of the underlying data pipeline, publishes these insights and applications using the MTM data, and administers a mini-grants program to engage a wider community of researchers and EdTech developers. The Research Director will also lead the communication with the NTO’s Scientific Advisory Board who will guide the research direction of the project.
Postdoctoral Associate
The Postdoctoral Associate will participate in a cross-disciplinary research team comprised of faculty Co-PIs, a research director, PhD students, and several Master’s or undergraduate students across multiple universities and organizations.