Good and promising practices

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What is a good practice or a promising practice?

There is no universally accepted definition of a "best practice."  However, as the definitions below indicate, a "best practice" is a practice that upon rigorous evaluation, demonstrates success, has had an impact, and can be replicated.

  • United Nations Population Fund: The UNFPA Glossary of Monitoring and Evaluation Terms defines best practices "as planning or operational practices that have proven successful in particular circumstances and which are used to demonstrate what works and what does not and to accumulate and apply knowledge about how and why they work in different situations and contexts." [See Glossary of Monitoring and Evaluation Terms].
  • UNESCO: UNESCO describes best practices as having four common characteristics: "they are innovative; they make a difference; they have a sustainable effect; and they have the potential to be replicated and to serve as a model for generating initiatives elsewhere." [See Successful Projects Related to Poverty and Social Exclusion].
  • Advance Africa: Advance Africa, which was funded by USAID to collect and share best practices, states: "A best practice is a specific action or set of actions exhibiting quantitative and qualitative evidence of success together with the ability to be replicated and the potential to be adapted and transferred. Best practices represent the 'Gold Standard' of activities and tools that can be implemented to support program objectives." [See Best Practices Compendium].

In contrast, the term "promising practice" is used to describe methods and approaches that have not necessarily undergone multiple external evaluations or replications in different contexts. And yet, they have shown results and offer ideas about what works best in a given situation. They often include examples of how not to do something in a "Lessons learned" section.

References:

1. Sacket DL, Rosenberg WMC, Gray JAM, Haynes RB, Richardson WS. Evidence-based medicine: what it is and what it isn't. BMJ 1996; 312:71-72.
2. Knowledge for Health Project, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Communication Programs (CCP), Family Health International(FHI), Management Sciences for Health (MSH), http://info.k4health.org/practices.shtml

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