Richard Henderson

Richard Henderson has been in education for nearly 30 years with a focus on supporting students with disabilities and special population programs. Richard started as a middle and high school teacher before moving on to serve as a Principal and District Director of Special Education. From there, he went to work as a Special Education Regional Coordinator at the Idaho State Department of Education with a focus on supporting EL students with disabilities, SLD Identification, Disability Law and Policy, and Compliance Monitoring. This work eventually led Richard to become the State Director of Special Education and State 504 Coordinator at the department. Outside of public education, Richard has served as the National Director of Special Populations for a private education company with campuses all over the globe. Richard has also worked as a professor teaching undergrad and graduate education courses for general and special education teachers, administrators, and school psychologists.

During his time, Richard has been involved with and presented at the National Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), National Association of School Psychologist (NASP), and the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) where he also served on the executive board and committees with the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). 

Richard has also been involved with the National Center on Learning Disabilities (NCLD) RTI Action Network as a SLD Identification Toolkit Roundtable Participant and Editorial Advisor, the National Center on Assessment and Accountability for Special Education (NCAASE), and the National Alignment Task Force for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) and Americans with Disability Act (ADA).