The aim of this symposium is to provide a case illustrating a move towards standardized classroom video observation. It will discuss the value secondary analyses of video capture of classroom practices have in this regard. To ensure a European/international perspective it will compare and contrast recent research development between Europe and the USA when it comes to sharing observation instruments and measures. In order to expand our understanding of classroom teaching, five papers have been selected to form a body of substantial and methodological knowledge characteristic of secondary analyses of video data. In the symposium we use data from the PISA+ video study in Norway to analyze instructional practices in upper secondary classrooms. Based on 150 video taped lessons from math-, science- and reading classrooms we demonstrate how video documentation allow for multiple analyses and how this contributes to a deeper understanding of the relation between instructional practices and student learning. We argue that revisiting and ‘rewinding’ video can reveal practices more clearly and enable more targeted predictions of student outcome (cf. Arafeh 2002; Hiebert et al., 2003; Clarke et al, 2006; Janik & Seidel, 2009; Klette 2009). As Clarke (2002) points out, of all data sources currently available to researchers in education, videotape data seems most amenable to secondary analysis. The five papers present in-depths studies of teaching activities in the three PISA+ content areas. The first paper provides an overview of standardized instruments for measuring teaching, and the relationship between data complexity and shared standards among diverse instruments. The second paper discusses gender differences in oral presentations in PISA+ videos, while the third paper analyzes contradictions in instructional practices in PISA+ science classrooms with reference to teacher-student interaction. The fourth paper compares ‘domestic’ and ‘foreign’ codebooks as research instruments in secondary analyses of the PISA+ material. The fifth paper presents an explicit argument for benefits and concerns when re-using video data. Four papers rely on PISA+ video data exclusively (Svenkerud and Dalland; Andersson; Carlsten, Grossman and Klette; Dalland), while one paper focuses on the methodological aspects of using the PISA+ video data in secondary analyses in comparison to other relevant sources (Carlsten and Klette).