Professional development that really works - an independent evaluation

At Steplab, we believe professional development (PD) should make a real difference to teachers and children.

That belief sits behind everything we do. But we also know that belief isn't enough. If schools are investing time, energy and trust in PD, they deserve to know whether it's actually improving practice.

That's why we asked ImpactEd to carry out an independent evaluation of Steplab’s impact across our partner schools.

The evaluation combined multiple sources of evidence, including surveys, focus groups, platform data from more than 2,300 Steplab partner schools, national pupil outcome data, and independent staff and pupil engagement data.

Together, these sources build a holistic picture of how Steplab is being used in schools, what teachers and leaders are experiencing, and where the strongest signs of impact are emerging.

Across the evaluation, Steplab is associated with meaningful improvements in three important areas: the quality of professional development, the consistency and quality of teaching practice, and outcomes for children.

Teachers and leaders reported stronger professional dialogue, safer and more developmental feedback, and more purposeful approaches to improving teaching.

The evaluation found that 84% of surveyed teachers and leaders agree professional dialogue about teaching has improved, while 82% feel safe receiving developmental feedback.

This matters because effective professional development depends on more than good content. It also depends on the culture around it: whether teachers feel safe to practise, receive feedback, refine their approach and keep improving over time.

Leaders highlighted the role of small, granular steps, coaching and sustained practice in helping teachers make lasting changes in the classroom.

88% of surveyed teachers and leaders agree that a focus on small, granular steps improves teaching practice, while 85% are positive that the consistency of teaching practice across classrooms has improved.

These findings reflect what we see in our partner schools every day: when teachers work on precise, manageable improvements, supported by coaching and feedback, professional development becomes easier to act on and easier to sustain.

The evaluation also found positive signs in classroom culture and pupil outcomes.

81% of surveyed teachers and leaders agree that classroom climate has improved. 87% of established users report improved pupil learning.

In primary schools using Steplab, children make the equivalent of 2-3 additional months of reading progress compared with peers in schools not using Steplab. Within secondary schools, those with the highest levels of Steplab engagement show Attainment 8 scores more than one point higher than those with the lowest levels.

For us, these findings are especially important. Professional development shouldn't stop at teacher confidence or staff engagement, valuable as those are. It should support better teaching, calmer classrooms and stronger outcomes for children.

As Danielle Jones, Manager at ImpactEd Evaluation, said:

“What is particularly striking about this evaluation is not just the consistency of the findings, but how positively schools report their experience of Steplab. Across the surveys, focus groups, and independent data, leaders and teachers describe meaningful, tangible improvements in professional development quality, teacher confidence, and classroom culture within their settings; findings which deepen the more Steplab becomes embedded.

These findings are especially notable given that Steplab partner schools serve, on average, significantly more disadvantaged communities than the national average, suggesting that structured, coaching-led professional development has an important role to play in supporting the schools that need it most.”

We are delighted by these findings.

They show that when professional development is precise, evidence-informed and sustained over time, it can change teaching practice and improve children’s experience of school.

They also show that impact grows as Steplab becomes embedded. Schools report positive changes early in implementation, with benefits strengthening over time as better habits, routines and professional cultures take root.

For schools and trusts working hard to improve teaching, this is an encouraging message: PD can make a meaningful difference when it is built around the right mechanisms and sustained in the right way.

Read the full ImpactEd Evaluation report below to explore the findings, methodology and evidence in more detail.

If these findings reflect the kind of change you want to see in your school or trust, book a demo to find out how to build a PD programme that really works.