Stepping into the Future of Education with Harvard's Best Foot Forward Project

Featured Resource | Educational Leaders

Progress in education is often the result of innovative thinking and the adoption of forward-thinking tools and strategies. One such game-changing resource comes from one of the world's leading educational research institutions, Harvard University, and it's called the Best Foot Forward Project.

Accessed via https://www.bestfootforward.org/, the Best Foot Forward Project represents a significant shift in how observations, an integral part of teacher development and evaluation, are carried out in our schools. This resource offers a range of tools and resources aimed at integrating video observations into educational practices.

Why is the Best Foot Forward Project a noteworthy resource for school leaders? To understand this, one must recognize the changing dynamics of modern education. Traditional observation methods, while still valuable, can be limiting in terms of time, context, and interpretative variations. The Best Foot Forward Project’s focus on video observations addresses these issues, offering a flexible, rich, and nuanced alternative.

This shift to video-based observation carries several benefits. For one, it allows teachers to record their lessons at a time and place of their choosing, giving them more control over the process and ensuring they can truly put their best foot forward. This approach can help alleviate some of the stress often associated with in-person evaluations and can foster a more constructive and positive culture of evaluation.

For school leaders, video observations offer the opportunity for more detailed and focused evaluations. Leaders can review the videos multiple times, pause to take notes, and even discuss specific points with other leaders or with the teachers themselves. This can lead to more meaningful feedback and conversations around professional development.

Moreover, video observations can provide a more comprehensive view of a teacher's skill set. By allowing teachers to submit videos from different days and different lessons, leaders can get a more holistic understanding of a teacher's capabilities, rather than relying on a single in-person observation.

However, the Best Foot Forward Project is not just about the tools - it's about the research and the vision behind them. The project's resources are built on rigorous research and designed with a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities inherent in teacher evaluation.

Ultimately, the Best Foot Forward Project is about leveraging technology to improve our schools. By providing school leaders with the tools and resources to integrate video observations into their practice, it is helping to create a culture of reflective, evidence-based practice that benefits both teachers and students.

In our next article, I'll introduce you to The National Institute for Direct Instruction, another resource that's making significant strides in shaping the future of education. Please join me as we continue this exciting exploration.