Research impact

Research undertaken by the TTRC has had large-scale positive effects on teaching and learning in Australia. The Centre’s research has positively impacted thousands of teachers and millions of students. Our significant impact covers student academic achievement, equity, and aspirations; teaching quality, teacher morale and wellbeing; school culture, leadership, and whole-school improvement; and national policy influence.

Strategic Plan

2023-2027

While our strategic goals have been refined over time, the TTRC is consistent in its commitments to quality, rigour and equity.

Our vision is to enact positive social change through education. We believe that education has the power to transform lives and communities. Our research is driven by the desire to create a better future through quality education.

Our mission is to conduct and translate rigorous, relevant, and meaningful educational research. We are dedicated to generating knowledge that informs educational practice and policy, with the ultimate goal of improving student outcomes, transforming lives and communities, and sustaining fulfilling careers in education.

A new strategic plan in 2023 formalised the TTRC’s research priorities for the next five-year period.

• Build capacity for quality teaching
• Enhance education systems
• Advance social justice through education

Learn more (PDF, 161.07 KB)

Impact Agenda

2025-2028

The Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration lays out a vision for an Australian education system that supports every student to be the best they can be, no matter where they live or the learning challenges they face.

The Teachers and Teaching Research Centre at the University of Newcastle outlines its three key education priorities for the next term of federal parliament that will support the government, schools, teachers and the wider community to deliver on this vision.

• Quality Teaching for all teachers at all career stages
• School partnerships for improving equity
• Enhancing post-school education

Impact Agenda: 2025-2028 (PDF, 2759.92 KB)

Impact Agenda: at a glance (PDF, 517.49 KB)

Building Capacity for Quality Teaching in Australian Schools

2018-2023

Building Capacity for Quality Teaching in Australian Schools (2018-2023) remains unprecedented in the Australian education research landscape for its investment, scope, and ambition. This project set out to comprehensively explore what the ‘Quality Teaching Rounds’ (QTR) approach to teacher professional development could do for schooling in Australia.

The Building Capacity project stands as a testament to the difference education can make. As one initiative with broad impact, QTR is uniquely appropriate for tackling the challenges of lifting outcomes and promoting both equity and excellence in Australian education.

Learn more

The Aspirations Program of Research

2012-2018

The Aspirations Longitudinal Study (2012-2018) was a groundbreaking research project that produced comprehensive insights into the factors that shape post-school aspirations of students from Years 3 to 12. The project spurred 10 additional research projects exploring the aspirations of Indigenous students and students from regional and remote Australia, implications for the VET and Higher Education sectors, and the impact of teachers, schools and communities in the formation of young people’s aspirations.

This work culminated in the development of two free online professional development courses, one for teachers and career advisers, and the other for families and community members, to support the nurturing of aspirations.

Two recent studies have extended the original Aspirations Longitudinal Study. In 2020-2021, The Path Travelled project surveyed and interviewed participants from the original study to find out if they had realised their childhood aspirations, and the 2024 Aspirations: 10 Years On study is returning to schools from the original study to examine the changes in Aspirations of young people today.

This program of research remains highly cited and regarded by academics, government officials, the media and education stakeholders.

Learn more

Impact of COVID-19 on schooling

2020-2021

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was lots of speculation about what impact learning from home would have on schooling and how this should be factored in to the preventative measures adopted by governments. Given our qualitative and quantitative data from our 2019 randomised controlled trial into the effects of Quality Teaching Rounds and baseline data collected early in 2020, the TTRC was perfectly positioned to provide an evidence-informed authoritative perspective into these debates.

Our study published in early 2021 and a second-year follow up published in early 2022 provided some of the world's earliest and most robust emperical data on the impact of COVID-19 on students, teachers, and schooling more broadly. While we found the speculation around learning loss didn't materialise in Australia, and, in fact, the resources directed into schools may have helped boost learning for disadvantaged students, there were significant negative effects on both student and teacher wellbeing that continue to resonate today.

Learn more