Design Principles for Effective Video-Based Professional Development.

Background Most studies of teacher professional development (PD) do not rigorously test impact on teaching practice and student learning. This makes it difficult to define what is truly “effective.” The Science Teachers Learning from Lesson Analysis (STeLLA) PD program, in contrast, was studied in a cluster randomized experimental design that examined impact on teaching practice and student learning. The STeLLA video-based PD (VbPD) program demonstrated significant impact, with high effect sizes, on elementary teachers’ science teaching practice and their students’ learning. Previously published reports provide details about research methods and findings but only broad sketches of the STeLLA program design and implementation. Deeper explorations of the STeLLA design principles can contribute evidence-based knowledge about the features of effective PD and enrich the existing but limited consensus model of effective PD. This article addresses the following questions: What design principles guided the development, implementation, leadership, and scaling up of a video-based PD program that had significant impact on student learning? What do the STeLLA design principles contribute to the existing knowledge base about effective video-based PD?