Dr. Guardino currently serves as the Program Lead for the Technical Assistance and Dissemination program within the Research to Practice division of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). He is also a Program Officer for a variety of discretionary grants in the areas of Personnel Preparation, State Personnel Development, and Technical Assistance and Dissemination. He received his doctorate in Special Education from the University of Oregon and specializes in systemic change, positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) , response to intervention (RTI), and disproportionality. Prior to coming to OSEP, Dr. Guardino spent six years at the Oregon Department of Education serving in a variety of roles. During his time in Oregon he ran statewide initiatives on PBIS and RTI implementation, coordinated IDEA Part B general supervision, and managed the School Improvement program.

Ruth Ryder is the Deputy Director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), U.S. Department of Education.  OSEP has responsibility for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act program, providing financial support to States through formula grant programs and national leadership in supporting States through technical assistance, personnel preparation, parent training, technology and State personnel development. 

Ms. Ryder has been with OSEP since 1988, most recently as the OSEP Deputy Director.  In this position, she is providing national leadership in moving special education accountability to a more results-oriented process.   In addition, she is focusing attention on ensuring that the needs of children with disabilities are addressed in the major initiatives of the Department, such as ESEA Flexibility, School Improvement Grants and Early Learning. 

Prior to joining OSEP, Ms. Ryder was a program administrator for a school district in Washington State with responsibility for an OSERS funded special education demonstration project examining integrated service delivery models for including children with disabilities in general education.  She also administered the ESEA Title 1 and Title 2 programs, State-remediation, gifted education, outcome-based education, and State-and district-wide testing programs.  Additionally, she was also a special education consulting teacher and a general education classroom teacher.

Angela Tanner-Dean is an Education Program Specialist in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs.  The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is dedicated to improving results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities ages birth through 21 by providing leadership and financial support to assist states and local districts. Angela currently works in the Monitoring and State Improvement Planning (MSIP) division which is responsible for State plan review and approval, and monitoring OSEP's formula grant programs to ensure consistency with federal requirements and to ensure that states implement programs designed to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.

 Prior to joining the Department, Angela was the Clinical Director at a special education school. She has held positions in both the education and mental health fields as a licensed clinical professional counselor.