This study contributes to global debates around defining and measuring teacher effectiveness by examining teaching quality in Colombia. We used data collected by Fundación Compartir (FC), a Colombian NGO that for 20 years has awarded annual prizes to the 'best teachers' in the country. We used mixed-methods procedures to examine those teaching practices and professional characteristics that FC hold for teaching excellence. We found that award winners tended to be more student-centred and community-based and understood student learning as their own responsibility, compared to non-winners. Award winners were also more likely to implement strategies that extend beyond the classroom to impact the community. In this article, we discuss these findings in the context of teaching reform in Colombia and discuss the role of teacher education in improving teaching quality in Colombia and, by extension, other countries too.