My involvement with the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) began when I was a graduate student in special education at the University of Oregon. I enjoyed a two year run as president of the UO Student Chapter with a great group of fellow graduate student officers, graduate and undergraduate members and the support of a committed faculty advisor. Together, we presented at state and national conferences, held a fund raiser for exceptional children, and increased membership in the student chapter. As a graduate student, I conducted research with children at-risk for behavioral disorders and focused my studies on school-wide positive behavior support, functional behavioral assessment, and disproportionality.
In 2006 I was elected President of the Oregon CEC State Unit. As president, I attended the state leadership conference in DC and learned a great deal from national representatives and other state leaders. I also represented Oregon at the National CEC Conference Representative Assembly. That same year I also started working full-time at the Oregon Department of Education in the Office of Student Learning and Partnerships as the Special Education State Grant Coordinator. In this position, I oversaw the Oregon PBS and RTI Initiatives and the State Personnel Development Grant.
In 2007 I changed positions at ODE and now coordinate the Systems Performance Review and Improvement (SPR&I) process. SPR&I is a district/program driven system founded on evidence based decision-making. It supports improvement planning through the collection and interpretation of data and assists ODE to evaluate the effectiveness of district/program improvement strategies. The SPR&I system supports a close relationship between special education improvement planning and other district or community improvement planning efforts.
On a personal note, I am very lucky to have a supportive wife, Minkyung and two beautiful daughters, Jade 4 and Zoey 2. As a family we love to be outdoors and spend time with our friends. Last April we attended the CEC convention in Seattle together and enjoyed all the city had to offer.
CEC is a great organization helping to improving the practices and making available resources to those who work with and on behalf of those with exceptionalities. I am honored to continue to serve as the president of the Oregon CEC State Unit and look forward to an increase in activities that involve our diverse membership with a focus on special education in Oregon.
Sincerely,
David Guardino