Quality Teaching Rounds Digital/ Teachers and Teaching Research Centre

Too often teachers in rural and remote areas miss out on opportunities for high-impact professional development. QTR Digital provides such access for teachers regardless of school size and distance from larger centres. Rigorous research has shown participation in face-to-face Quality Teaching Rounds (QTR) enhances the quality of teaching, teacher morale and student achievement. Adapted specifically for teachers in regional, remote and small schools, QTR Digital makes innovative use of video and other technologies to engage teachers in the same robust processes to collaboratively analyse and refine their teaching practice.

Our 2021 randomised controlled trial of QTR Digital involved 127 NSW teachers from regional, remote and very remote areas. When compared with the control group, participating primary teachers significantly increased the quality of their teaching (0.4 effect) and their students achieved two-months’ additional attainment in reading over the eight-month study period.

The cross-school experience of QTR Digital broadened teachers’ professional networks and provided rare opportunities to view colleagues from other schools in similar contexts. Participants described QTR Digital as “an exceptional program”. They found the experience “validating,” even changing the minds of some who were thinking of leaving the profession. The ultimate beneficiaries are RRR students.

Category: Regional, Remote, Rural Partnership Award
https://www.newcastle.edu.au/research/centre/teachers-and-teaching/quality-teaching-rounds