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 2013–15. 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.