Diana McFarland

Diana McFarland is excited to return to UW-Madison as part of the first Masters in Learning Analytics cohort. She originally graduated from UW-Madison in 2009 with a double major in Elementary Education and Psychology. For the last decade she has focused on raising her four children, while maintaining a connection to the world of education through substitute teaching, volunteering, parent leadership roles, and school district committees. As a newly elected school board member, she hopes to leverage the knowledge and tools she develops in this program to help her district make data-informed decisions on what is best for kids. In order to close the achievement and opportunity gaps in education we must first have accurate measures of where those gaps are, to learn what strategies have been successful in closing those gaps, and to develop relationships with families and community partners to bring those strategies to life. She is passionate about building a career around discovering and advocating for continued advancements in the world of education.