The Ray-Pec School District received the 2012 Missouri Commissioner’s Award for High Quality Professional Development. The award was presented at the Missouri Staff Development Council’s Show-Me Professional Development Conference March 11-13. Pictured receiving the award are, from left: Board Member Ruth Johnson, Teacher Keri Pinney, Teacher Karen Perry, Teacher Don Novak, Coordinator of 7-12 Curriculum and Assessment Karmin Ricker, Superintendent Dr. Jeff Kyle, Director of K-6 Curriculum and Assessment Karen Hurst, Board Member Kim York, and Assistant Superintendent for Academic Services Dr. Kevin Daniel.

The Ray-Pec School District received the 2012 Missouri Commissioner’s Award for High Quality Professional Development.
To qualify for the award, a district had to be fully accredited and achieve a required score on the Annual Performance Report. The district had to show how professional development impacted teacher practices and student learning. The application included a scoring guide that corresponded with standards of the National Staff Development Council. The district also had to show how its professional development goals align with the district’s Comprehensive School Improvement Plan.
A site team that visited the district in January praised the district’s efforts to connect professional development work with the concepts of a Professional Learning Community. The site team noted strengths in developing staff in the areas of assessment, collaboration, and data analysis. The team also cited as a strength the student achievement growth over the past three years when funding has dropped and student diversity and poverty levels have grown.