The Teachers First initiative is a grass-roots cluster-model approach for bringing together primary and secondary teachers and school principals: to analyse student performance data; design and practice activities and assessment tools; and promote teaching practices that address students' learning difficulties in mathematics. The balance of both top-down and bottom-up reform processes, seeded with the latest research evidence, allowed teachers to become both competent and confident in their effective teaching of mathematics. Its continued success is testament to our innovative school leaders and passionate teachers. This article describes the processes developed within the North Coast region in Queensland to deliver the Teachers First initiative, and discusses the model's successes and its challenges.