Best Foot Forward Project

Best Foot Forward: First Year Implementation Report

Project Status: Current
Focus Area: Teacher Effectiveness
Location: Delaware, California, Colorado, & Georgia

Did video technology improve the classroom observation process?

The Best Foot Forward Project investigated whether video technology can make the classroom observation process easier to implement, less costly, and more valid and reliable. In a randomized controlled trial, the study team put cameras in the hands of teachers and allowed them to select their best lessons for evaluation. Researchers aimed to learn whether digital video made the observation process more acceptable to teachers and administrators.

In 2013, the project was piloted in 100 classrooms in New York City, Georgia, and North Carolina. More than 400 teachers and their administrators from districts in Delaware, California, Colorado, and Georgia joined the impact evaluation from 201315. Read the first year implementation report to learn whether digital video transformed the way classroom observations were experienced by the participants in the study. A 2016 report will explore whether there were changes in student performance for the treatment group using video cameras.

The study is led by Principal Investigator Thomas Kane and Project Director Miriam Greenberg.

David Quinn

Research Assistant
Doctoral Student
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Let’s Rewind

October 6, 2015

Miriam Greenberg, Director of Education and Communications, shares the importance of video technology to teacher feedback in the following HGSE Usable Knowledge blog post.... Read more about Let’s Rewind

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Education Agencies

In 2013, the project was piloted in 100 classrooms in New York City, Georgia, and North Carolina. Currently, 400 teachers and their principals from districts in Delaware, California, Colorado, and Georgia are participating in the project. 

Organizational Partners

In addition to the participating teacher and administrator volunteers and leadership from the states and districts with which we work, the Best Foot Forward Project’s partners include technology companies, nonprofit organizations, and education consultants. 

BloomBoard
Panorama Education
Pearson Education
Teachstone
IRIS Connect
TNTP

Funders

Kenneth C. Griffin
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation