How to Conduct an Observation

This guide walks an evaluator through an observation from start to finish, tab by tab. For the concepts behind observations, see Observations.

Before You Start

• Make sure you're in the correct work area — Evaluate Teachers or Evaluate Principals — for the location where you're observing. If you evaluate at more than one school, switch to the right one first. See Navigating Work Areas.
• Confirm the evaluatee has an evaluator and plan type assigned — see Assignments & Plan Types.
• If you'll use conference prompts, have them ready in your Prompt Bank — see Using Prompts.

1. Set Up the Observation — Setup tab

1. Go to Observations and create a new observation.
2. On the Setup tab, enter a title, choose the observation type (Informal or Formal), and set the observation date, time, and duration.
3. Turn on Pre-Conference and/or Post-Conference if you'll use them, and set their dates and times.
4. Optionally, check Exclude from Summative Report if this observation shouldn't be included.

The observation opens in Draft. It's visible to the evaluatee right away, but your Evidence View and Report tabs stay hidden from them until you share those tabs or submit.

2. Set Up Conference Prompts — Setup tab

When a conference is enabled, a Conference Prompts panel appears on the Setup tab (with Pre-Conference and Post-Conference sub-tabs when both are on). There you can:

• select prompts from your Prompt Bank,
• add a local prompt just for this observation, and
• send the prompts to the evaluatee.

The evaluatee is notified and responds. See Using Prompts.

3. Observe and Capture Evidence — Observe & Code tab

The Observe & Code tab is your working space during and after the observation:

• Write your Observation Notes.
• Review the evaluatee's pre- and post-conference responses as they share them.
• Add conference summaries and share them if you'd like.

Select passages in your notes or the evaluatee's responses and code them as evidence aligned to rubric components.

4. Add Artifacts — Artifacts tab (optional)

Attach supporting documents as embedded artifacts. Share them before you submit, or they won't be included in the published evidence.

5. Review, Package, and Score — Evidence View tab

1. Review all aligned evidence organized against the rubric.
2. Group related evidence into evidence packages and align them to specific rubric performance-level descriptors.
3. If your district allows observation scoring, assign rubric component scores.
4. Check the Report tab to preview the report.

6. Send the Final Report

1. When you're ready, send the final report (Formal mode) or submit/lock it (Simple mode).
2. In Formal mode, the evaluatee reviews and acknowledges the report before it locks. In Simple mode, it locks immediately and the evaluatee is notified.
3. Once locked, the observation's evidence is published and flows to the Summative — see Observations.

Making Changes After Locking

A locked observation can't be edited directly. Either party can request an unlock, which the other must approve; or, before the evaluatee acknowledges, the evaluator can revert it to Draft. See How Workflows Work.