Evaluation Periods Overview

Evaluation periods define the timeframes for organizing performance reviews in your system. They help you structure teacher evaluations around your school's academic calendar and review cycles.

What Are Evaluation Periods

Evaluation periods are date-based containers that organize performance reviews into specific timeframes. Each period has:

• A name (e.g., "2024-2025 School Year")
• Start and end dates
• An active status for new reviews
• Optional term numbers for multi-term periods

When to Use Evaluation Periods

Use evaluation periods when your organization conducts formal performance reviews that need to be grouped by time periods. Common scenarios include:

• Annual teacher evaluations aligned with the school year
• Semester-based review cycles
• Probationary teacher evaluation periods
• Multi-year evaluation cycles

Note: Evaluation periods are only available when Performance Reviews are enabled in your system.

How Periods Relate to Performance Reviews

When you create a performance review, it gets associated with the currently active evaluation period. This allows you to:

• Filter reviews by time period in reports
• Track completion rates per evaluation cycle
• Organize historical review data
• Generate period-specific analytics

Only one evaluation period should be active at a time to ensure new reviews are properly categorized.

Role Requirements

Managing evaluation periods requires administrator permissions:

• System Administrator - Full access to create, edit, and manage all evaluation periods
• Organization Administrator - May have access depending on your system configuration

Observable staff and evaluators can see which evaluation period their reviews belong to, but cannot modify the periods themselves.

Best Practices

When setting up evaluation periods:

1. Plan Ahead - Create periods before the evaluation cycle begins
2. Use Consistent Naming - Follow a standard format like "YYYY-YYYY School Year"
3. Set Clear Dates - Align start and end dates with your academic calendar
4. Maintain One Active Period - Only mark the current period as active
5. Consider Terms - Use term numbers if you run multiple evaluation cycles per period

Evaluation periods provide the foundation for organizing your performance review process and generating meaningful reports about your staff development efforts.