What Is an Observation?
An observation is a structured classroom visit where a coach uses a form to evaluate and provide feedback on a teacher's instructional practices. Every observation in Aprenta connects three things:
An Observer -- The person conducting the observation, typically an instructional coach or administrator
An Observee -- The teacher being observed in their classroom
A Form -- The structured set of questions and criteria used to guide and record the observation
During the visit, the observer fills out the form on their device while watching the lesson unfold. The completed observation becomes a permanent record that can be reviewed, exported, and used in reporting.
Observation Statuses
Every observation has one of two statuses:
Status | Indicator | Meaning |
Open | Red badge | The observation is in progress and can still be edited |
Closed | Green badge | The observation is complete and read-only |
A new observation starts as Open. When the observer finishes filling out the form and clicks Done, the status changes to Closed. You can reopen a closed observation by clicking the status dropdown and selecting Mark as Open.
Observation Lifecycle
Observations follow a straightforward lifecycle:
Schedule (optional) -- A scheduler or administrator can schedule an observation in advance using the Scheduler
Start -- A coach clicks Start Observation in the navigation bar, selects a form, then selects a teacher
Conduct -- The coach fills out the form during the classroom visit, adding notes, categories, and tags
Complete -- The coach clicks Done to close the observation, making it read-only
Who Can Access Observations
Different roles interact with observations in different ways:
Coaches (Observer role) can start, conduct, and manage their own observations. They see their observations on the Home page.
Teachers (Observee role) can view observations conducted on them under the My Observations tab on the Home page.
Principals and assistant principals (Organization Manager or Observation Manager role) can access the Observations page in the navigation bar, which shows a comprehensive list of all observations across the school. They can view, edit, change status, export, and delete any observation.
Account owners (Owner role) have full access to observations across all schools.
The Observations page in the main navigation is only visible to principals, assistant principals, and account owners -- roles with school-wide observation management permissions. Coaches manage their own observations from the Home page and the observation detail page.
The Observations Page
The Observations page displays a table with the following columns:
Teacher -- The name of the observee
Form -- The observation form used
Observed By -- The name of the observer
Observed Date -- When the observation took place (formatted as MM/DD/YYYY)
Status -- Open or Closed, shown as a clickable dropdown to change status
Actions -- Download PDF and delete buttons
Above the table you will find a date range picker with preset options, a search bar, and an Export dropdown for bulk exports.
A filter panel on the right side of the page lets you narrow the list by school, teacher, observer, form, category, and tags.
Related Articles
Starting an Observation -- How to begin a new observation
Conducting an Observation -- How to fill out the form during a classroom visit
Managing Observations -- How to view, filter, and manage observation records
Exporting Observations -- How to export as PDF or CSV