Dustin Bindreiff Ed.D. is a Policy Consultant for the California School Board Association.  He has over 20 years of experience and research in education, systems of support, and therapeutic programs for students, with a focus on bridging the research-to-practice gap.  Dr. Bindreiff has trained hundreds of teachers and leaders to identify and implement research-based social-emotional supports.  For over five years he has provided equity support to schools throughout California to address special education disproportionality.  He received his Doctorate from Portland State University, where he studied systems of support in special education.  He has worked with parents, teachers, administrators, and educational leaders to improve social-emotional support for highly impacted students.  Additionally, he has provided presentations to pilots in the United States Air Force, police academies, juvenile justice leaders, and more.  

Dustin has provided technical assistance and consultation services to improve the state of California’s student assessment process for students with disabilities and English learners.  His research on behavior supports has been presented at multiple National Association of Positive Behavior Supports conferences, and he has been a featured speaker at national Learning and the Brain conferences.  He has presented social-emotional learning and growth mindset research to schools in over ten states, including California, Texas,  North Carolina, Oregon, and Alaska.  He recently published his first book Belonging: How Social Connection Can Heal, Empower and Educate Kids available from Corwin Press.  He has previously published articles with the Association of California School Administrators, The National Association of Secondary School Principals, The California School Board Association, and others.  

Previously Dustin has served as a consultant for Wested for therapeutic program reviews, serving as an expert witness and providing program evaluation and ongoing implementation support. Additionally, he conducted a number of special education department-wide evaluations and recommendations. For the past two years, Dustin has provided special education dispute resolution services to districts throughout California, including the California Bar Association. His career began with the founding of a mentoring program in Portland Oregon that has now been serving at-risk youth for over twenty years. In education, he has worked with multiple schools for students in need of intensive therapeutic support, managed an award-winning behavior and mental health program, and served as a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) coordinator for a district of nearly 65,000 students. Additionally, he is a behavior analyst, and assistant professor at the University of the Pacific and provides coaching services to teachers and students. Follow him on Twitter @drdustybx