Leadership

Kristen McQuillan, Executive Director

Knowledge Matters is led by Dr. Kristen McQuillan, a former teacher and instructional leader whose experience spans classrooms, school systems, higher education, and national literacy initiatives. She spent more than a decade serving Baltimore City Public Schools as a teacher, instructional coach, and district administrator, and helped prepare early-career teachers as a Faculty Associate at Johns Hopkins University. Prior to leading Knowledge Matters, Kristen served as a Partner at TNTP, supporting literacy transitions and strategic improvement efforts with states and school systems across the country.

As Executive Director, Kristen leads the vision, strategy, and public-facing work of the Knowledge Matters Campaign and Knowledge Matters Solutions, partnering with educators, researchers, and organizations to strengthen knowledge-rich teaching and learning.

---

Vaishali Joshi, Chief Consulting Officer

Vaishali is a seasoned educator with a driving focus on ensuring that all children have access to the highest quality K-12 experiences that support their academic, social-emotional, and physical development. A seasoned team leader and manager, Vaishali supports those that she works with to envision and implement high-quality, meaningful, identity-affirming, and effective instructional experiences for children and adults alike.

Vaishali started her career in the Baltimore City Public School system as a teacher and was a founding faculty member of one of Baltimore’s first and longest operating charter schools, Southwest Baltimore Charter School. She has served in several leadership roles since including the Lower School Academic Dean at Codman Academy Charter Public School and Director of the Inspired Teaching Residency Program in Washington, DC. Most recently, she served as Senior Director, Program at Teaching Lab where she launched and supported several multi-year state and district level partnerships focused on teacher professional learning and instructional improvement. She holds a BA in Music/International Relations from UNC-Chapel Hill, and M.Ed in Literacy Education from Loyola University of Maryland, and a Doctor of Education Leadership (Ed.L.D) from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

As Chief Consulting Officer, Vaishali leads consulting partnerships and strategic collaborations for Knowledge Matters Solutions, helping partners design and implement high-impact literacy and learning initiatives.

---

Kathleen Carroll, Chief Communications Officer

Kathleen is a veteran communications strategist whose editorial leadership and policy know-how have shaped the ideas that shape public education in the United States for more than two decades. She specializes in bridging gaps between research and practice to advance educational opportunity, and partners with funders, nonprofits, advocates, and researchers to create strategic communications that grow public understanding and inform classroom practice. Previously, she led publications at TNTP, including studies of teacher preparation and retention, school culture, and related school-improvement levers. Kathleen began her career in daily newspapers, where her journalism was recognized with numerous honors and public service awards, including the nation’s top prizes for investigative and education reporting.

As Chief Communications Officer, Kathleen directs communications and storytelling efforts across the Knowledge Matters Campaign and Knowledge Matters Solutions, helping translate research and practice into clear, compelling messages for educators in systems and for the broader field.

---

K.B. Shorr, Chief Operations Officer

K.B. is an operations executive with a background in communications and project management. She launched her career in political campaigns in Pennsylvania, eventually serving on the executive staff for the governor of Pennsylvania. Following her work in state government, K.B. specialized in strategic communications for advocacy campaigns, corporate social responsibility efforts, and nonprofits, first as a vice president at a public affairs firm and later as an independent consultant. At Knowledge Matters, K.B. has contributed to projects with state education agencies in New Mexico, Texas, Tennessee, and Delaware, as well as with the Council of Chief State School Officers, TNTP, and others.

As Chief Operations Officer, K.B. oversees organizational operations and systems across the Knowledge Matters Campaign and Knowledge Matters Solutions, ensuring the work runs smoothly, strategically, and sustainably.

---

Tara McGarvey, Program Manager
Known for her deep commitment to serving the literacy needs of all students in diverse communities, Tara brings nearly two decades of classroom and instructional experience to her work as an educator. She has served in a variety of teaching roles across Maryland and New Jersey, most notably at City Neighbors Hamilton Charter School in Baltimore, where she worked as the grade level lead for fourth and fifth grade classrooms and as a reading interventionist. She holds a Master’s degree in Reading from Loyola University Maryland and a Bachelor’s degree in American Studies and Elementary Education from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

As Program Manager, Tara coordinates the many moving parts behind our projects, convenings, and partnerships, bringing exceptional organization, care, and problem-solving to every detail.

Scientific Advisory Committee

Knowledge Matters is fortunate to receive guidance from a distinguished group of education researchers who constitute our Scientific Advisory Committee. While this group is not formally associated with Knowledge Matters and does not endorse—as a group or as individuals—everything said or done via our organization, we are grateful for their wisdom and humbled by their commitment to advancing our understanding of how children learn to read and write.

The Committee meets quarterly and regularly updates our team about new developments and insights from research, policy, and practice related to how building content knowledge impacts literacy and learning. Members represent a range of scholarly disciplines and areas of expertise, including cognitive psychology, literacy, neuroscience, linguistics, and education policy and practice.

Committee Members

Marilyn Jager Adams
Visiting Scholar, Brown University

Ana Taboada Barber
Professor and Associate Dean, Research, Innovation and Partnerships, College of Education, University of Maryland

Sonia Cabell
Associate Professor of Education, Florida Center for Reading Research, Florida State University

Hugh Catts
Professor of Communication Science and Disorders, Florida State University

Anne E. Cunningham
Professor, Learning Sciences and Development, Berkeley School of Education, University of California, Berkeley

Nell Duke
Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture and in combined Program in Education and Psychology, University of Michigan

Lily Wong Fillmore
Professor Emerita, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley

James S. Kim
Professor, Language and Literacy, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University

Danielle McNamara
Executive Director, Learning Engineering Institute, Arizona State University

Kate Nation
Professor of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford

Susan Neuman
Professor, Early Childhood and Literacy Development, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University

Kathleen Rastle
Professor of Cognitive Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London

Pamela Snow
Professor of Cognitive Psychology, School of Education, La Trobe University

David Steiner
Executive Director, Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy

Dylan Wiliam
Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment, UCL Institute of Education

Daniel Willingham
Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia

Our parent organization

Knowledge Matters’ work builds on more than three decades of field-leading expertise by StandardsWork, our parent organization and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

StandardsWork Board of Directors

Bradley Miller, Board Chair

Leslye A. Arsht

John Danielson

Barbara Davidson, President of StandardsWork

LaTonya M. Goffney

Susan Pimentel

Shipley Salewski

Natalie Wexler