Advance runs on school days, not calendar days, and its minimums depend on a teacher's status and last year's rating — not on tenure alone. This page collects the clocks in one place. It describes the policy as written; your superintendent's guidance controls where they differ.
Observation minimums, by status
| Status | Prior year | Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| Probationary | any rating except Ineffective/Unsatisfactory | 1 formal + 3 informal |
| Probationary | Ineffective or Unsatisfactory | 1 formal + 4 informal |
| Tenured | Highly Effective | 0 formal + 2 informal |
| Tenured | Effective | 0 formal + 2 informal (0 + 3 if the year before was Developing or lower) |
| Tenured | Developing, or no rating | 1 formal + 3 informal |
| Tenured | Ineffective or Unsatisfactory | 1 formal + 4 informal |
Highly Effective and Effective teachers may choose Option PROSE: two informals plus a structured review. Teachers rated S/U are outside Advance, and no Advance minimum applies.
Source: NYCDOE Advance Policy Summary, "Minimum Number of Observations."
A common shorthand — "untenured get 1+3, tenured get two informals" — is only partly right: two informals holds for a Highly Effective teacher, or an Effective one coming off a good year. A tenured teacher coming off Developing owes the same 1+3 as a probationer.
The two clocks after every observation
- Feedback within 10 school days of the observation — before the report is issued.
- The written report within 30 school days of the observation.
Both counts skip weekends, holidays, and every closure on the DOE's 2026–27 calendar — a late-May observation's 30th school day can land after graduation, which is how end-of-year reports get missed.
Source: NYCDOE Advance Policy Summary — "Evaluators provide teachers with feedback within 10 school days of an observation" and "complete and share with teachers within 30 school days of an observation."
The evidence window
Evidence from outside the classroom — components 1a, 1e, and 4e — may be included when it was observed within the 15 school days preceding the observation. The window looks backward from the visit, not forward from the write-up.
Source: NYCDOE Advance Policy Summary — "Evaluator may include evidence observed within 15 school days"; Advance FAQ — evidence from "15 school days preceding an observation."
One vocabulary trap
In Advance materials, P&P is "preparation and professionalism" — the out-of-classroom components 1a, 1e and 4e — not "planning and preparation," which is the name of Danielson Domain 1. The two look interchangeable and are not.
Source: Advance FAQ 2.3.7, "preparation & professionalism (p&p)."
Tracking it
Each teacher is a separate set of clocks: their status sets the minimums, each observation starts a feedback clock and a report clock, and the school calendar decides what a "day" is. A paper list works in September and fails in March. However you track it — a spreadsheet, a calendar, or WellNoted, which counts these deadlines on the DOE calendar automatically — the rule that matters is the same: the clock starts the day you walk out of the room.