V. Darleen Opfer

Biography

V. Darleen Opfer is director of RAND Education and holds the Distinguished Chair in Education Policy at the RAND Corporation.

Before joining RAND in April 2011, Opfer served on the faculty of education at the University of Cambridge in England, where she was director of research and senior lecturer in research methods and school improvement. Prior to her work in Cambridge, she served as director of the Ohio Collaborative, a policy research center at Ohio State University, where she was also an associate professor of research methods. Opfer was also an assistant professor at Georgia State University and research director for the Virginia Institute of Government at the University of Virginia. Opfer has conducted policy research studies for a number of governments, including on the recruitment and retention of school leaders for the Scottish government and on teacher professional development for the Training and Development Agency for Schools in England.

Opfer holds a B.A. in education from Stetson University; and an M.Ed. in behavior disorders and a Ph.D. in education policy studies, both from the University of Virginia.