Jenny began her career in education as a secondary physical education teacher in South Australia. Since 1992, Jenny has been awarded 102 grants for a total of more than $34 million in research funding. Her educational and research interests have consistently centred on quality and equity, and have ranged across topics such as teacher socialisation, alternative pedagogy, power relations in teaching, reform in teacher education, pedagogical reform, and teacher development. Her career to date has been dedicated to improving the quality of teaching by empowering teachers to enrich student learning. With a steadfast focus on improving the lives of teachers and students, particularly students from Indigenous, low SES and other marginalised communities, Jenny’s vision is quality teaching for every student, every day. Her research accomplishments stem from addressing such challenging questions in education as how to narrow equity gaps in schooling and student achievement, how to enhance teaching throughout teachers’ careers, and how to improve the quality of teaching at scale.

Jenny has received several major honours recognising her research, leadership, and contributions to the field. These honours include: awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (2024); an award from the Australian Council for Educational Leaders SA for her contribution to research in educational leadership (2023); elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (2023) for her role in improving educational outcomes at scale; elected Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW (2021) for her leadership within the field of teacher education; elected Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (2020) for exemplifying the highest standards of excellence through accomplishment, professionalism, and commitment; the Dr Paul Brock Memorial Medal, awarded by the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (2018) for outstanding contributions to social justice and evidence-informed policy, practice, and research; an award from the Australian Council of Deans of Education for her outstanding contribution to education reform (2017); a Visiting Professorship appointment at the University of Oxford (2017); and the Radford Lecture and Award, ‘Reconciling Educational Research Traditions’, the highest honour awarded to distinguished academics by the Australian Association for Research in Education (2016).

Dr Drew Miller is the Deputy Director of the Teachers and Teaching Research Centre. He has extensive experience in collaborative design and leadership of rigorous evaluation of educational interventions, having developed and led multiple large-scale RCTs and longitudinal evaluations, as well as bespoke program evaluations for and with research partners. Drew has also led national reviews, sits on several national advisory groups, and has been a visiting academic at four international institutions. He is currently leading the Centre’s $4.3m Thriving Schools project.

Steve Hannan is the executive director of the QT Academy. He has worked in tertiary education for more than 20 years, first teaching at TAFE then working in research management roles in the university sector. Steve has held several strategic research management positions with responsibility for promoting research, developing networks and establishing partnerships with industry and government and is a former board member of the Australasian Research Management Society. Steve accepted an Engagement Australia 2022 Excellence Award for Outstanding Engagement for Research Impact on behalf of the TTRC and the QT Academy for its 20-year relationship with the NSW Department of Education. Steve is committed to ensuring that all teachers, in all contexts, can engage in high quality evidence-backed professional development and strongly believes in supporting a community of educators connected by a shared vision of quality teaching for every student every day.