Quality Teaching Rounds (QTR) is professional development that makes a significant difference for teachers and students.

Premised on respect for teachers, QTR is relevant for teachers in every subject area, working in every grade, at every career stage.

A 2019 randomised controlled trial found that the students whose teachers participated in QTR achieved 25 per cent additional growth in mathematics than those in the control group, with greater improvements demonstrated in disadvantaged schools.

QTR has also been shown to improve the quality of teaching, teacher morale and school culture in successive rigorous studies. A 2020 Deloitte Access Economics cost benefit analysis reported that “QTR is a very low-cost intervention that achieves a positive impact on student progress,” returning at least $40 to the economy for every $1 invested.

Teachers begin their engagement with Quality Teaching Rounds by taking part in a two-day workshop, delivered online or face-to-face by the University of Newcastle’s Quality Teaching Academy. More information about the workshop and the Term 4 workshop schedule can be found here http://www.newcastle.edu.au/qtr

After taking part in a two-day workshop, teachers return to their schools and form professional learning communities (PLC) of four teachers to conduct a ‘set of Rounds’. A ‘Round’ typically occurs over a day, involving a professional reading discussion, a lesson observation coded through the lens of the Quality Teaching model, followed by deep analysis and discussion of the lesson. This process is repeated on separate days, across a term, until each teacher in the PLC has taught an observed lesson.

QTR honours the complexity of teaching and empowers teachers to enrich the learning of every student, every day.