After an observation cycle is marked as complete, it is locked in the eVAL system, preventing either the principal or the teacher from making further changes to the report. There may be times, however, that the observation will need to be unlocked. This article covers the steps required to unlock an observation. The steps are the same, regardless of whether it's the principal or the teacher that is making the request.

Navigate to the Report tab in the Observations module for a specific observation that you want to unlock.

1. You'll see a blue notification that states that the observation is  complete and locked.
2. To request an "unlock" of the observation cycle, click on the green Request Unlock button in the top right corner of the tab bar.

A temporary drop-down window will appear, explaining the process. The requestor can enter a reason for their request to unlock the observation, and then click on the green button that says Yes, request unlock.

The observation cycle and the observation report will continue to stay in a locked state until the other party approves the request for an unlock.

1. An additional blue notification will appear above the tab bar, displaying the status of the request to unlock the observation.
2. If the person making the request changes their mind and decides that the observation cycle does not need to be unlocked, they can click on the green button that says Remove Unlock Request.

The other party will see a notification on their dashboard the next time they sign in, and should navigate to the Observation module for this particular observation for which an "unlock request" has been made. Click on the Reports tab to view the two blue notifications about the status of the observation cycle. At this point, this party can accept or decline the request to unlock this observation.

If the request to unlock this observation is accepted, the teacher will notice that the blue notifications will have disappeared from above the tab bar.

And the principal will also notice that since the observation is not unlocked, the blue notifications will have disappeared from above their tab bar, as well.