Our History

In 1987, professionals across Missouri began their collective efforts in staff development. Under the leadership of Georgia Archibald, a group in St.Louis began to form a regional vision for professional development. MSDC was organized in 1989, and in 1990 MSDC, with a membership of100, achieved affiliate status with the National Staff Development Council (NSDC). Cheri Shannon served as the affiliates’ first president and MSDC was listed along with twenty other state affiliates in the 1991 NSDC Conference program.

MSDC was the host affiliate for the 1991National Staff Development Conference in St. Louis. At the conference, Scotty Scott facilitated a “National Conversation” for principals. Following that first year, Sandy Stogsdill Shannon and later Tina Bamvakis led MSDC. Two “drive in” conferences were held in Columbia, Missouri. However, the momentum for MSDC waned.

In 1993, with the passage of the Outstanding Schools Act, professional development became a major focus in the school improvement process. SB380 mandated that 1% of the foundation formula be spent on professional development. Doug Miller became the first state professional development coordinator with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) in 1994. DESE established nine Regional Professional Development Centers during the 1995-96 school year to provide regional professional development services to districts to ensure equity of opportunity. DESE and the RPDCs worked together to host the first annual Show-Me Professional Development Conference in 1997. Out of this collective effort, MSDC began to reorganize and officers were elected. Jim Botts, Chris Guinther, Sue Fluegel, Ruth Ann Humiston, Pat Dukewits, Doug Miller and Judy English served as the Executive Committee during the years of reorganization. This enabled Missouri again to have an active affiliate chapter of the National Staff Development Council. Darlene Castilli’s efforts produced the first MSDC newsletter in 1997.

In 1998, Missouri received a SDLC Grant from NSDC to build support for high quality professional development in the state. DESE and the RPDCs continued to organize the Show-Me Conference. Chris Guinther served as the MSDC President for three years, from 1998 through 2000. Gene Vinson and Paul Pitchford served as Conference Co-Chairs in 1999 and Chris Guinther served as Conference Chair in 2000.

MSDC was organizing itself into a viable statewide organization and became a planning partner in the state professional development conference. The Staff Development Vision Award was initiated to honor outstanding leadership in Missouri professional development efforts during the 1999 conference. The inaugural Vision Award was presented to Georgia Archibald at the 1999 conference and Doug Miller was the 2000 recipient. By2000, MSDC membership had grown to 900. Scotty Scott was also elected to a three year term to the NSDC Board of Trustees.

Beginning with 2001 conference, MSDC took over the planning and operation of the annual Show-Me Professional Development Conference. Jim Botts served as MSDC President and Deb Orr was Conference Chair. At its annual meeting at the conference, MSDC voted to expand its board to include representation from each of the nine geographic regions of the state as defined by the Regional Professional Development

Centers. conference topped 1,000 for the first time and Chris Guinther was recognized for her leadership with the Vision Award. MSDC adopted its first Strategic Plan and MSDC was on its way to becoming a major statewide organization when it gained separate 501(c)3 status. During this year, MSDC initiated several awards to honor outstanding professional development programs and professional development leaders in the state. In addition to the Staff Development VisionAward, awards were presented for Outstanding Staff Developer, Outstanding Professional Development Program in a District, and Outstanding Professional Development Program at the Building Level.

In 2003, MSDC worked with the SDLC to initiate a new award to take the place of the previously awarded district honor. With a Missouri professional development grant, MSDC launched the Commissioner’s Award of Excellence for Professional Development. This award was presented by the Missouri Commissioner of Education, Dr. Kent King, at the annual conference to six Missouri districts. Richard Rice was MSDC President and Julie Blaine served as Conference Chair. Senator Steve Stoll set the tone for the conference with his presentation on the importance and the power of high quality professional development. Judy English was presented the Vision Award. During the 2002-2003 school year, MSDC worked with the SDLC to ensure continued state- and district-level funding for professional development through the foundation formula. This effort resulted in the defeat of HB402 and HB745 in the Missouri Legislature and the continued funding of staff development in the state.

The 2003-2004 school year marked a major milestone for MSDC, as the organization named its first parttime Executive Director, Marcia Haskin. The Board of Directors was expanded to allow for a planned progression of leadership to the presidency. Under Richard Rice’s leadership as President, MSDC developed a more comprehensive strategic plan to guide the organization forward, increase its visibility, and to improve service and support to school districts and state organizations. An updated web site was created at http://www.msdc-mo.org. MSDC was selected to present at the Phi Delta Kappa National Conference in November 2003 in Saint Louis and at the National NSDC Conference in December 2003 in New Orleans. At the 2003 NSDC Conference, two of Missouri’s professional development leaders were honored: Julie Blaine as the New Staff Developer for outstanding success in her early years of service, and Sue McAdamis for her Distinguished Service in acknowledgement for her extraordinary and sustained service to NSDC. 2003 also ended Scotty Scott’s term on the NSDC Board of Trustees and marked the beginning of a three-year term on the NSDC Board for Sue McAdamis. The November 2003 NSDC Results publication highlighted the successful results at Ladd Elementary School with principal Gustava Cooper Baker.

In 2004-2005, Julie Blaine became president of MSDC. MSDC adopted the National Staff Development Council’s goal as its goal – All teachers in all Missouri schools will experience high quality professional learning as part of their daily work by 2007. Three objectives were developed to assist MSDC advance this goal:

• Communicate with all stakeholders about standards-based professional development.
• Build leadership capacity around PD standards
• Recognize high quality PD that reflects Missouri standards.

One strategy used to advance this goal was to begin extending its outreach to other organizations to ensure that district leaders increase their knowledge of the standards and their roles in advancing the standards. This included work with the Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals, Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals, Missouri Association of School Boards, and District Technology Leaders. MSDC participated in their annual conferences to accomplish this.

MSDC continued its work with the awards program and again recognized Missouri educators with its vision, staff developer, and building awards, along with The Commissioner’s Awards of Excellence for Professional Development. At the same time, MSDC members demonstrated their leadership. The Independence School District was recognized by NSDC for its professional development newsletter. Elizabeth Mayes, from the Parkway School District, was published in the Summer 2005 National Staff Development Councils’ journal – JSD. Her article on how the Parkway School District provides professional development for its support staff provided readers with specific strategies that can be adapted by other school districts. In addition, MSDC continued to be recognized as the largest NSDC Affiliate. At the March 2005 MSDC Show-Me Professional Development Conference, over 1000 school educators had the opportunity to attend many sessions to increase their understanding of the standards-based professional development. The conference also marked the election of the 2005-2006 new MSDC Board of Directors with Kathy Blackmore succeeding Julie Blaine as president o f MSDC.