Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What makes a lesson, project, or initiative a Best Practice?
A Best Practice is something that was designed to address an issue or solve a problem to improve practice. A Best Practice would likely have one or more of the following characteristics…
- Promotes student collaboration
- Facilitates high quality student work worthy of an audience beyond educators and parents
- Incorporates standards-based, student-engaged assessments
- Incorporates families and the greater community into the learning process
- Challenges students to engage in deeper, long-term learning with the rigor needed for college and career readiness
- Addresses a school or classroom goal or a student need
- It works and there is evidence that it works.
Who can submit a Best Practice?
- Any BSU partner is invited to participate. BSU Professional Development Schools, BSU Partnership Schools, BSU Charter Schools, Burris Laboratory School, and Indiana Academy faculty and staff are encouraged to submit Best Practices.
Can a team submit a Best Practice?
- Yes! You may submit an individual project, a project that represents a grade level, team, or group, or even a whole-school project. One person will need to be noted as the primary contact.
Who decides what a Best Practice is?
- It is up to the school that is represented to decide whether or not what is submitted is a Best Practice.
Do I need to have an administrator’s approval to submit to the Best Practices Showcase?
- The final decision on whether or not a Best Practice should be submitted rests with the site. It may be an administrator, a site committee, or other process that you use to determine whether or not a practice represents the school. You will be asked on your submission form to state how this was done. Just click the appropriate answer.
Why are there 2 descriptions of the project–one 150 word description and another, longer one?
- The 150 word description you write will be used in the Best Practices Conference program. It is brief, to alert participants to displays they will want to see as well as a reminder for those who attend and may wish to contact you later. Both descriptions will be published on the Best Practices Showcase website.
Who participates in the Best Practice Conference?
- Anyone who submits to the Best Practices Showcase website is invited to participate in the culminating Best Practices Conference.
What may be considered as evidence to support a Best Practice?
- Evidence may be a comparison of assessments to show growth (such as spreadsheets, graphs, etc), records to show increased participation, anecdotal feedback, student work samples, photos, video, etc.
Can I submit more than 1 piece of evidence?
- Yes! You can attach multiple examples. You may attach multiple items at a time.
What if my file is too large to attach?
- Click here and find out more about over-sized files.
Can I add information to a previous submission?
- Yes! As your Best Practice continues to be implemented and revised, we hope your submission will be updated with additional feedback and evidence. Use the Revise Your Submission form.
Will I be notified that my submission was accepted?
- Yes! You will get an automated message after you click the submit button. You will be personally notified after the submission is processed to let you know that it is published!