Diane DeBacker

Diane DeBacker serves as the Assistant Provost of Jayhawk Flex overseeing the program development of competency-based education at the University of Kansas (KU). Dr. DeBacker began her tenure at KU in January 2021 when she was named the Founding Director of the Center for Certification and Competency-Based Education, C3Be, a research center within the Achievement and Assessment Institute that focuses on supporting responsive learning systems of certification, competency-based, and work-place informed learning and education. Dr. DeBacker’s passion for education has taken her from her first high school classroom in Manhattan, Kansas, to advising the education system in Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates, to Chief Academic Officer in Seattle Public Schools, to serving as Commissioner of Education for the state of Kansas, and as Executive Director of Business and Education Innovation for the Kansas Department of Commerce where she also chaired the Governor’s Education Council. DeBacker has been praised throughout her career for her ability to provide clarity to complex education issues including state education governance structures, school finance, federal education legislation, education policy, and workforce development and training. Diane has an Ed.D. in Educational Administration and Leadership from Kansas State University; an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from Washburn University, and a B.S. in Business Education from Emporia State University.