Observation reviews

An observation review records the teacher who was observed, when, the rubric score and the development plan agreed with them. It belongs to the observation request it answers. The observer drafts it, attaches the supporting evidence (lesson notes, observation forms, a video reference) to the request, and submits it.

Submission checks the review against the request: the teacher, observation time, rubric score and development plan must be present and consistent with the evidence and events already on the request. The submitted revision is then frozen. An independent instructional reviewer approves, rejects or returns it, and only approved reviews count in the program’s reports. The observer cannot approve their own review.

Observers draft and submit; instructional reviewers decide.

• Teacher, time, score and plan. All four are needed before submission.
• Evidence on the request. Supporting files are attached where the reviewer can see them.
• Independent approval. Reviews are decided by someone other than the observer.

Agree your rubric and how scores are recorded, what a development plan must include, and what evidence each observation needs. Agree who reviews observations and how returned reviews are handled. Prepare examples of an approved review, a review returned for a missing development plan and a review rejected because the evidence did not support the score.

After observing the science lesson, the coach drafts a review with a rubric score of 2.8 and a development plan focused on questioning techniques, attaching the observation form. The reviewer returns it because the plan has no follow-up date. The coach adds one and resubmits, and the reviewer approves. The teacher’s approved observation and plan now appear in the program’s records.

Across the year, each teacher’s approved reviews build a record of scores and plans that the program and the teacher can both see.

• Draft observation reviews — Reviews still being written.
• Observation reviews awaiting decision — Submitted reviews for the reviewer.
• Observation review board — Reviews by status.

• Observation review approval: From draft to approved review.

See roles.