Monica Drvota began her career in special education working at the Ohio State University providing technical assistance to State Departments of Education. Later, she transitioned to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, where she dedicated over 18 years to working in the Dispute Resolution Section of the Office for Exceptional Children.
During her tenure with the Dispute Resolution section, Monica was the Complaint Coordinator and then Due Process Coordinator for the State of Ohio before becoming the Assistant Director of the Dispute Resolution section. As the Assistant Director of Dispute Resolution, Monica supervised staff responsible for managing complaints filed by individuals, families, and organizations. Monica’s team led the development and redesign of early dispute resolution, mediation, facilitation, due process, and formal complaint processes for the State of Ohio.
Monica then moved into the role of Associate Director for the Department of Education and Workforce, Office for Exceptional Children where she oversaw the Dispute Resolution, Supports and Monitoring and Urban Support sections.
While working at the State Department of Education, Monica coordinated the State’s Advisory Panel for Exceptional Children, helping to build a trusting partnership between the Advisory Panel and the State Department. Additionally, Monica helped to supervise, design and implement, the State 5-year rule revision process for 16 regulations including the Operating Standards for the Education of Children with Disabilities, Developmental Delay rules and the Positive Behavior and Intervention and Restraint and Seclusion rule. The rule revision process which Monica helped to develop included facilitated input from a variety of stakeholder groups including advisory panels, associations, and statewide organizations. In addition to revising a variety of rules Monica helped to develop policies, procedures and guidance as companion documents to help keep stakeholders in compliance with the rules.
Monica currently serves as the Operations Director for the University of Cincinnati Systems Development & Improvement (SDI) Center, an applied research center within the University of Cincinnati dedicated to enhancing conditions and outcomes for all learners. The SDI Center promotes the development, implementation, and evaluation of educational research and dissemination efforts aimed at improving learning opportunities for children, youth, their families, and the professionals who support them. In her role at the SDI Center, Monica leads development initiatives in dispute resolution and family engagement, manages national partnership efforts, and oversees activities related to research, program development, and evaluation.
The cornerstone of Monica’s career is a dedication to dispute resolution. She is committed to developing dispute resolution processes that resolve conflicts which foster collaborative partnerships and enhance outcomes for children with disabilities.