About the Learning Partnership
What we do. Our mission is to promote STEM equity and educational excellence by building school district capacity for continuous improvement to engage, inspire and elevate all students. Through our long-term partnerships with schools, districts, and community organizations, we collaboratively engage in rigorous research that both informs solutions and contributes to educational theory.
Why we do it. It’s our passion. Together, in partnership with schools, districts, scientists, parents, and teachers, equity and excellence for all students can be achieved.
How we do it differently. We have a long-term, collaborative approach to our partnerships. We work closely with community members, bridging the gap between research and practice to help everyone thrive—from the school district through to the individual student.
Meet The Team
At The Learning Partnership, we all come to work everyday because we are passionate about improving student outcomes and want to affect change at the classroom, school, district and state levels. Our team is astute, hard-working and collaborative. If you are a self-starter who longs to make a difference in education, you’ll fit right in here. We are always looking for experts in education research and people who bring a diverse perspective to the table. Our work environment is ever-changing, tight-knit and inclusive - we value your opinions and insights, and encourage you to voice them.
Steven McGee is the President. As one of the first learning scientists in the nation, he studies how to support learning from an individual cognitive perspective as well as from the perspective of systems and social contexts. He has three decades of experience fostering partnerships with teachers and school districts to achieve equity and excellence for all students. He works in collaboration with the Vice President to oversee research operations and set vision for the organization. He has formerly served as a Northwestern University faculty member in the School of Education and Social Policy, Director of Technology and Assessment at Loyola University, and Chief R&D Officer for the NASA Classroom of the Future. As an entrepreneur, he has launched two educational companies.
Steven holds a Ph.D. in the learning sciences from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. from Wheeling Jesuit University.
Randi McGee-Tekula is the Vice-President. She partners with teachers, school administrators and scientists to co-design curriculum and professional development experiences. She works in collaboration with the President to oversee research operations and set vision for the organization. She conducts case study research on teaching practices in STEM classrooms. Her research interests include teacher change, measurement of teaching practices, and equity in STEM teaching. Her career began in research support in immunology and molecular biology at Northwestern and Stanford Universities. Since then, she has gained experience as a high school chemistry teacher, curriculum designer, and as an industrial project manager. Her passions have always directed her back towards education and providing meaningful learning opportunities for the student.
Randi holds a B.A. in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, from Northwestern University and is a co-author on multiple technical, conference and journal papers. She recently co-authored her first book chapter.
Charlette Jackson is a Grant Accountant who is the primary source of Accounting and Finance for various grant teams at The Learning Partnership. She supports the team with day-to-day operations, contract modifications, compliance, payments and cost reports. She has fifteen years of experience working nonprofits doing grant reporting and compliance related work.
Charlette holds a Bachelor’s in Accountancy from Purdue University Calumet.
Raisa Canete Blazquez is a postdoctoral research fellow whose primary interest is to improve the experiences of minorities in educational settings. Her experiences as an instructor of Spanish and in multicultural education have influenced her research approaches. With an emphasis on curriculum and instruction, she has done critical research that focuses on challenging systemic racism and recognizing the lived experiences and identities of minoritized students. Her work has ranged from investigating the experiences of multilingual students in university Spanish classes to increasing awareness of structural inequities among pre-service teachers, to exploring strategies to support faculty of color in multicultural education.
Raisa holds a Ph.D. in language, equity, and education policy from Oregon State University.
Naomi Blaushild is a postdoctoral research fellow whose mixed methods research focuses on education policy implementation, teacher development and retention, and school leadership. Naomi began her career as a middle school English Language Arts teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools. She taught elementary and middle school for six years and facilitated professional development around literacy instruction to teachers across the district. These experiences inform much of her research approach, which involves centering the strengths and perspectives of students, educators, and community members. In her doctoral work at Northwestern University, Naomi collaborated on a comparative school systems study and participated in a research practicum with Evanston Township High School as part of the Multidisciplinary Program in Education Sciences program.
Naomi holds a Ph.D. in Human Development and Social Policy from Northwestern University, a M.S. in Education from Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A. in Political Science from Kenyon College. Her work has been published in Educational Policy, the Peabody Journal of Education, and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.
Jennifer Duck is a Data Manager who handles all backend data processing. After spending over two decades working with small- and large-scale assessment projects, Jenn is fluent in using excel to organize and manipulate data to be used by all members of the research team.
Jenn holds an M.B.A. from the Wheeling Jesuit University and is a co-author on multiple technical, conference and journal papers.
Cat McGee is an Educational Research Coordinator Manager and Communications Lead who works closely with key partners in the research process to ensure that both individual and group needs are seen and taken care of. As well as visiting schools and building strong relationships, Cat develops and maintains systematic processes for collecting and analyzing student data.
Cat holds a B.A. in Theater from Northwestern University and along with her work at The Learning Partnership, she also teaches afterschool improv to elementary students in Evanston, IL and has been working as an actor/writer in Chicago.
Katya Winkler is an Education Research Coordinator supporting the implementation of computer science in the Milwaukee Public Schools. She also works part-time for Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, focusing on promoting Computer Science among teachers and students statewide. Katya has over eight years of experience in project management in the IT and Communications industries where she has developed a great understanding of accountability and results-orientation.
Katya received her master’s in linguistics from Moscow State University, is a certified Project Management Professional (PMI), and holds a certificate in organizational management. She is also fluent in Russian and loves dogs.
Kevin Duck is an Education Research Coordinator who supports The Learning Partnership’s Research Operations team. He works closely with the Data Manager to collect, process, and maintain the data collected from both large- and small-scale research projects.
Kevin’s experience comes from his many years working at a Bass Pro Distribution center as a Department Lead and Damages Coordinator.
The Learning Partnership is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.