How Form Access Works

A form can be used for a new observation or performance review only when three settings allow it. Each one is managed in a different place. Knowing which is which is the fastest way to answer “why can’t I find this form?”

For step-by-step answers to common situations, such as a new school year or a school leaving a form, see Common Form Access Scenarios.

The Three Settings

Setting	Where you manage it	What it decides
The organization’s grant	System Administration > Organizations/Groups > the organization > Form Grants	Whether that school or department can use the form
The form’s place in the form set	System Administration > Form Sets > the form set > Forms	Whether the form appears when someone starts from that form set
The form itself	System Administration > Forms	Whether the form can be used anywhere at all

All three must be active, and the grant must also be inside its availability dates. Archiving any one of them stops new work at that level and leaves the other two alone:

• Archive a grant to take a form away from one school while other schools keep it.
• Archive the form in a form set to swap it out of that form set while other form sets keep it.
• Archive the form to retire it everywhere.

Each level has an Activate action that undoes the archive.

The form set itself must also be active. A form set marked inactive does not appear when starting an observation, whatever its forms’ settings.

Grants Belong to One Organization

A grant applies to the organization it was made on, and to no other. A district’s grant does not reach its schools, and a new organization starts with no forms at all.

To give several schools the same form, grant it on the district’s Form Grants tab and choose the schools in the Member organizations list.

When a school joins a district or a group that already has its forms, use Grant to Members on that district or group’s Form Grants tab. It passes on the forms already listed there, which Grant cannot do. See Managing Form Access for Organizations.

Past Work Is Never Affected

Archiving at any level stops new observations and performance reviews only.

• Observations already started keep the form, and finished ones still display and score it.
• Staff can still open, read, and report on past work at every organization.
• Archiving deletes nothing, and every archive can be undone.

This is why forms and grants with recorded work are archived rather than deleted. A historical observation always displays from the form it was recorded on. A grant can be deleted only while the organization has recorded nothing on the form.

Availability Dates on a Grant

A grant can carry a start date, an end date, or both. It offers the form for new observations only between them. The Availability column on the Form Grants tab shows each grant’s dates, for example Available until 06/30/2027 or Expired on 06/30/2026. A grant with no dates shows Always available.

Dates and status are separate. When an end date passes, the grant stays Active and shows as expired. It is not archived. An archived grant stays shut whatever its dates say.

A system administrator who belongs to the account’s top-level organization can set these dates, when granting or later with Edit Dates in the grant’s row menu. Other administrators see them but cannot change them.

Why Can’t an Observer Find a Form?

Work through these in order. Check the organization chosen on the observation, which may be a school rather than the district.

1. Is the form archived or unpublished? Look for a Form archived or Form unpublished label next to the form on the Form Grants tab or the form set’s Forms tab. Activate an archived form under System Administration > Forms. An unpublished form cannot be used anywhere until it is published.
2. Does the organization have an active grant? Open the organization’s Form Grants tab. If the form is missing, click Grant. If it is listed as archived (clear the Active checkbox to see it), click Activate in its row menu.
3. Is the grant inside its availability dates? Check the Availability column. A grant showing Expired on or Available on a future date does not offer the form, even while its status is Active. A top-level system administrator can change the date with Edit Dates.
4. Is the form active in the form set? Open the form set’s Forms tab. If the form is archived there, click Activate in its row menu. If it is missing, click Attach.
5. Is the form set active? Check the form set’s Active? setting.
6. Can the organization record observations at all? An organization’s page lists anything missing under Requirements to enable observations, including An active observation form set with a granted, published form when steps 1 to 5 leave it with no form to use. See Getting a School Ready for Observations.

Frequently Asked Questions: Observations Already Started

The three settings decide who can start an observation. An observation or performance review that already exists follows a gentler rule, so work in progress is not lost when access changes.

Which forms does an existing observation show?

It shows a form when either of these is true:

• The form is active in the form set, and the observation’s organization holds a grant for it. The grant can be active, archived, or expired.
• The observation already has answers, feedback, or attachments on the form.

What changed after the observation was started	Does the form still show?	Can you save and submit?
The organization’s grant was archived	Yes	Yes
The grant’s end date passed	Yes	Yes
The form itself was archived	Yes	Yes
The form was archived in the form set	Only if something is recorded on it	Yes
The organization’s grant was deleted	Only if something is recorded on it	Yes
The organization never had a grant for the form	Only if something is recorded on it	Yes
None of the form set’s forms show, and nothing is recorded	No. You see This form set is no longer available	There is nothing to fill in

Can I finish an observation from a previous year?

Yes. An archived or expired grant stops new observations only. An open observation on that form still opens, saves, and submits, however old it is.

A form is missing from an observation in progress. Is the work lost?

No. A form with anything recorded on it always shows, so a missing form is one this observation has nothing on. It is hidden because the organization holds no grant for it, or because it was archived in the form set. Grant the form to the organization, or activate it on the form set’s Forms tab, and it appears the next time the observation is opened.

Do required questions on a hidden form block submitting?

No. Submit checks required questions only on the forms the observation shows.

What do finished observations show?

Every form they have answers, feedback, or attachments on, along with the forms that would show on an observation in progress. Archiving a grant, a form, or a form in a form set never removes recorded work from view.

An observation says “This form set is no longer available”. What now?

Nothing has been recorded on it and none of its forms can show. Either delete it, or give it a form to show: grant one of the form set’s forms to the observation’s organization, or activate a form on the form set’s Forms tab. See Messages You May See.

Messages You May See

”There is nothing to preview”

A form set’s Preview shows the forms that would appear on a new observation built from it: forms that are active in the form set and are themselves active and published. When there are none, the preview shows There is nothing to preview. Attach a form, or activate one, on the form set’s Forms tab.

The preview does not check grants. A form set can show forms in its preview that a particular school still cannot use.

”This form set is no longer available”

An observation or performance review already in progress keeps every form that is active in its form set and that its organization holds a grant for, whether that grant is active or archived. That includes a form that has since been archived on its own. This message appears only when no such form is left and nothing has been recorded on the observation yet, so there is nothing to fill in. That happens when every form has been archived in (or removed from) the form set, or when the organization’s grants for them have been deleted. If you have permission to delete it, a Delete this observation (or Delete this performance review) button appears with the message.

To keep working instead, activate one of the forms on the form set’s Forms tab (step 4 above), or grant one to the organization if its grant was deleted, then reopen the observation.