NSW Quality Teaching Awards - Research, Rigour and Transparency

In July 2000 at an Australian College of Education (ACE) international conference, the then NSW Minister for Education and Training, John Aquilina, announced - without prior notice - that he would make funding available to the NSW Chapter "to recognise and applaud the best teachers in our schools and learn from them". The Chapter's challenge was to devise a rigorous, transparent and authentic process to identify outstanding teachers in NSW from government and non-government sectors, from early childhood through to university teaching, and to research their practice. The Chapter established a steering committee of College members across the various sectors with the responsibility for the develop of Quality Teaching Awards (QTA).