Great teaching report

A report from the Sutton Trust assessed more than 200 pieces of research evidence in an attempt to address three broad questions:

• What makes 'great teaching'?
• What kinds of frameworks or tools could help us to capture it?
• How could this promote better learning?

The report identified six key factors in great teaching and rated them from strongly evidenced (teachers' content knowledge and quality of instruction) through moderately evidenced (classroom climate and classroom management) to factors with some supporting evidence (teacher beliefs and professional behaviors).

Common practices not supported by evidence included lavish use of praise, allowing learners to discover key ideas by themselves, grouping students by ability, and presenting information based on students' preferred learning style.

 The report included recommendations for practitioners to sustain their professional learning across the short and long terms.