Ed O'Leary, Ed.D.

Program Specialist

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Dr. O'Leary received his Doctorate from the University of Illinois in Vocational Technical Education/Special Needs (1991) and his Master's degree in Special Education from Drake University. His most recent experiences include working as a Program Assistance Consultant for Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center for the past eight years; teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in special education and vocational rehabilitation; and delivering presentations, trainings, and workshops in a number of States across the nation. Prior to his work with the Regional Resource Center, he spent over 20 years working in the public schools as a special education consultant, transition specialist, high school special education teacher, and work experience coordinator. He has also been very involved with and has held leadership positions in the Iowa Governor=s Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Council for Exceptional Education (Iowa and National), the Iowa Association of Vocational Education Special Needs Personnel, the Iowa Division of Career Development, and ARC/Iowa. He has received distinguishing awards from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Developmental Disabilities, and Heartland Area Education Agency for leadership and exemplary professional practice and service delivery to students, parents, and professionals.

Dr. O'Leary has demonstrated leadership with a number of State, regional, and local education agencies providing technical assistance in educational program design, delivery, evaluation, and management. The areas of expertise that he is most noted for are secondary transition and vocational programming for youth with disabilities, IEPs, technology, monitoring, and systems change. Not only is he well known and respected in the MPRRC region, he continually receives requests from other Regional Resource Centers, States, and districts across the U.S. for assistance and speaking. During the first half of the 2007/2008 school year he has been either a keynote presenter, featured speaker, invited presenter, or trainer in 25 different venues in eight states. His most notable published work, The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 Transition Requirements: A Guide for States, Districts, Schools, Universities (Storms, J., O'Leary, E., & Williams, J. (2000) has set the standard for transition services in schools across the U.S.