Dr. Barbara Wolford, Director of Student Services and Special Education

Dr. Wolford began her administrative career as a Coordinator of Special Education for the San Jacinto Unified School District. Dr. Wolford is currently the Director of Student Services and Special Education of Banning Unified School District and.  As Director, Barbara has worked collaboratively with a diverse stakeholder group to develop a collaborative teaching model at the secondary level, an autism specific program, and a District Mental Health program. In 2016-2017 school year, she earned the honored distinction of being the District’s certificated Administrator of the year. Dr. Wolford’s expertise in the areas of Special Education and school climate have earned the District several grant awards for the State Preschool Program, State Inclusion Program and a grant “Learning Communities Student Support Program” which focuses on chronic absenteeism. The District has been awarded Model SARB distinction for 2016 and 2019. Additionally the work her department has led in the area of PBIS has led to five schools being honored with Bronze, Silver and Gold PBIS awards from the State of California PBIS Coalition.

 

Dr. Wolford has presented on many topics related to Special Education and school climate in the District, locally and at international conferences. Dr. Wolford has presented at the C5 conference, the Sino Chinese -American Conference in Chengdu China, the World Autism Conference in Dubai, UAE. Some of the trainings she has conducted include the following: Special Education Compliance Training, Section 504,  Building a Continuum of Services,  Serving the Needs of Students, Accommodations: The Building Block of Inclusion, Developing a District Vision and Mission, Series on Co-teaching, Evidence-based Practices in the Inclusive Setting and the Student Study team. She has professionally consulted in other Districts, advised Target Solutions on the content for their Keenan Training Videos and has worked with several consulting firms to improve special education. Currently, Dr. Wolford facilitates classes for the RCOE Impact Education Intern Program in the area of Special Education.

 

Dr. Wolford has a bachelor’s degree in History from California Poly-Technic University Pomona and holds a single subject credential in Social Studies from La Sierra University. She earned an instruction specialist credential for students with learning disabilities and a Master of Science degree in Special Education from National University. Dr. Wolford earned a clear administrative credential and a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Brandman University.  Her dissertation is “Improving Special Education on the levels of Policy, Teacher Practice and Student Support.”