SameGoal Special Programs
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SameGoal Special Programs

Implementation




Support > Online Guides > Implementation
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We've helped hundreds of districts implement SameGoal successfully with a 99%+ annual retention rate.


We are excited to have you join our community!

Below are standard implementation steps we recommend districts consider and which we go through on a typical implementation planning call. Many are quick, can be done in parallel and/or are optional.

How fast or slow your implementation goes is typically up to your district. We've done lightning speed setups one day with training the next, while some are planned over the course of a year. No matter your district's situation, we are dedicated to working with your district team to help ensure your implementation is successful.


Implementation Steps

StepSpecial Programs TeamIT TeamTime
1. Planning CallXX~1 hr
2. EnvironmentX~1 hr
3. AuthenticationX~1 hr
4. SIS integrationX~8 hrs (setup, verification)
5. PDF migrationXXVaries
6. Bulk load key program dataX~1-3 days (varies)
7. Medicaid integrationX~1 hr
8. TestHound integrationX~1 hr (excluding mapping)
9. Other third party integrationsXXVaries
10. District SettingsXX~1-2 hrs
11. District banksXVaries
12. Bulk load usersX~2-8 hrs (varies)
13. TrainingX~1-2 hrs (planning)
14. Transition to general supportXPost training

Planning Call link

supervisor_account Special programs team

manage_accounts Tech team

schedule ~1 hr

Let's meet. On your planning call (typically 60 mins over Google Meets/Zoom), we'll:

During the call, your implementation team will document the discussion and next steps. You'll get started by identifying:

Please invite any key district staff that will help with implementation, including member(s) of your technical team that may be involved. As needed, we will schedule follow-up technical calls, but it is helpful to have both special programs and technical staff jointly set implementation expectations and timelines from the jump.

Environment link

manage_accounts Tech team

schedule ~1 hr

Gain initial software access. Confirm your district's email domain with your implementation team. This domain will become the unique identifier for your district's SameGoal environment (e.g. applegrove.k12.ca.us).

Once confirmed, we will create your environment, as well as user accounts for key district staff involved in implementation. New users will receive an email once their account is created. To log in:

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Add a district-specific login page link with our logo to your district website that's easy to spot (optional).

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If your district uses ClassLink, users will log in by clicking the SameGoal app icon on their LaunchPad.

Authentication link

manage_accounts Tech team

schedule ~1 hr

Decide how district users will authenticate. We recommend districts use single sign-on (SSO) or LDAP/Active Directory to streamline user authentication when possible. SameGoal supports:

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If your district uses a different OpenID Connect identity provider than listed above, SSO should work "out-of-the-box" provided the IP follows the OpenID specification. See General Configuration.

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Many districts contract with outside providers that do not have a district email address and/or are not in the district's authentication scheme. These users can be added to SameGoal, and set to authenticate with a password instead. They do not need to be added to your authentication server.

SIS Integration link

manage_accounts Tech team

schedule ~8 hrs (setup, verification)

Set up SIS integration. SameGoal can integrate with student information systems (SISs) in three main ways:

Integration methods available vary by SIS:

Your implementation team will be able to provide feedback/options as needed.

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Set up demographics integration first. Most other implementation steps block on having student demographics loaded into your environment. The remaining two integration methods are optional, and can be enabled at a later date.

PDF Migration link

supervisor_account Special programs team

manage_accounts Tech team

schedule Varies

Historical PDFs. SameGoal can automatically bulk import PDFs from your prior system. Depending on your prior vendor(s) and district size, your implementation team can recommend the best options for getting exported PDFs from your prior system loaded into SameGoal.

Steps
To migrate historical PDFs:

  1. Set a date by which all documents will be completed/finalized in your prior system.
  2. Extract PDFs from your prior system.
  3. Bulk import these PDFs into SameGoal.
  4. Required: Download and/or move extracted PDFs to a district location for long-term storage. Not all PDFs imported will be associated with a student in SameGoal when imported (e.g. if no matching student is found).

Each PDF will be uploaded to the student as an "Upload" document (owner will be Archives). The original PDF will appear as an attachment to this document. Users may review and copy/paste from these PDFs as necessary. They may also star these documents to identify the most important ones to them, thereby placing these documents on their caseload and the associated students on their "My Students" list.


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The bulk PDF importer attempts to associate PDFs with students already in SameGoal; it will not create students in SameGoal if they do not already exist. For this reason, a demographics integration must first be set up with your SIS before PDF import.

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Because most SISs send information for students enrolled in the current school year, PDF association "out-of-the-box" will only attach PDFs to students enrolled during the current school year.

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Optional: If you wish to bulk load PDFs for students not enrolled during the current school year, you can optionally do a one-time bulk load of historical students. To do so, populate students.csv with only required fields populated (see spec). For District Enrollment, you may set INACTIVE. This file can be imported by visiting Settings > Bulk Loader using an administrator account.

Bulk Load Key Program Data link

supervisor_account Special programs team

schedule ~1-3 days (varies)

Bootstrap your environment. "Key program data" from your prior system can be loaded into SameGoal when provided in the format shared during your planning call. Loading this data is optional, but can be a helpful way to bootstrap the system. This data:

Additionally, other users that work with the student can star these documents, thereby placing these documents on their caseload and the associated students on their "My Students" list. The data in these documents is also "live" and included in reports.

Medicaid Integration link

supervisor_account Special programs team

schedule ~1 hr

Integrate Medicaid information. SameGoal partners and integrates with Medicaid billing providers.

Steps
To set up the integration:

  1. Sign and return a Data Sharing Agreement provided to you
  2. Your implementation team will initialize a data export.
  3. Approve the API access email you receive for data export,
  4. Turn off the data feed from prior system to your Medicaid vendor.
  5. Confirm "cutover" date.
    • Data from documents with a primary date on or after the cutover date will begin flowing from SameGoal to your Medicaid vendor nightly.

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No district IT assistance is required to set up export.

TestHound Integration link

supervisor_account Special programs team

schedule ~1 hr (excluding mapping)

Integrate testing accommodations. SameGoal partners and integrates with TestHound, a testing coordination software vendor.

Steps
To set up the integration:

  1. Sign and return the TestHound Data Sharing Agreement.
  2. Your implementation team will initialize a data export.
  3. Approve the API access email you receive for data export.
  4. Confirm "cutover" date.
    • Data from documents with a primary date on or after the cutover date will begin flowing from SameGoal to TestHound nightly.
  5. Your district assessment coordinator must "map" accommodations from SameGoal in TestHound the same way they do for other vendors. TestHound support can assist with this step if required.

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No district IT assistance is required to set up export.

Other Third Party Integrations link

supervisor_account Special programs team

manage_accounts Tech team

schedule Varies

Integrate other third-party applications. This is not too common, but every now and then districts have additional third-party applications they wish to sync data from SameGoal to. The SameGoal API:

Your implementation team may be able to suggest/recommend the best API configuration for a particular integration/vendor.

District Settings link

supervisor_account Special programs team

manage_accounts Tech team

schedule ~1-2 hrs

Review district settings options. We typically have a meeting to go over the various district settings options. During this meeting, we will provide you with information so that you can successfully configure items such as:

District Banks link

supervisor_account Special programs team

schedule Varies

Help staff along. SameGoal allows districts to create district banks and default templates which auto-populate into fields when a document is created. While optional, populating district banks and templates (at least a few) helps users:

Your implementation team may share example bank values and templates other districts in your state have agreed to make available.

Bulk Load Users link

supervisor_account Special programs team

schedule ~2-8 hrs (varies)

Prepare to add users. Users can be manually added in the web interface at any time. However, it is usually helpful to bulk load users during implementation.

Before loading users, you will need to create user roles. User roles control form and report permissions in SameGoal.

Steps
To create user roles:

  1. Learn about user roles.
  2. Create a user role for each user type in the web interface, keeping in mind form permissions.

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When you are ready to create users manually in the web interface or bulk load them, you can set an unlimited number of user role and building combinations.

Once user roles have been created, users can be bulk loaded. However, we typically wait until the day of or day before training to run the bulk load because when the users are loaded, they immediately receive an email, which provides access. However, the User Loader Spreadsheet should be prepped in advance.

Steps
To bulk load users:

  1. Download the SameGoal User Loader Spreadsheet.
  2. Populate and return the spreadsheet to your SameGoal implementation coordinator.
  3. Your SameGoal implementation coordinator will bulk load the users into your environment.

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You may add an unlimited number of users. This can optionally include general education staff.

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Users typically should not be loaded until after the student demographics integration is set up and students are populated into your environment. This helps ensure users are assigned buildings which match students in your student information system (SIS).

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Automated account provisioning is also available.

Training link

supervisor_account Special programs team

schedule ~1-2 hrs (planning)

Exciting! This is the time to share with your staff:

Trainings work best when briefly opened by a district staff member, then passed to a SameGoal trainer. The SameGoal trainer will lead users through software training, but the district staff member may interject when helpful how a prior district process will now be handled in SameGoal and/or to answer district-specific questions.

Format: Training can be scheduled:

Time: In general, and if your PD time allows, we recommend:

Number of attendees: We can perform trainings for staff of any size.

Content: Though trainings can be modified as needed, we typically follow:

Expectations: All attendees should plan to bring a laptop and work in the software during the session.

Cancellations: Trainings cancelled less than 24 hours in advance are non-refundable or transferrable.

Minimum training requirements: It's great when districts can complete all implementation steps prior to training. That said, we know sometimes things just get busy for districts. As long as we have an environment created and can add user accounts prior to training (or at the door), training can be conducted in your environment with training students.

Transition to General Support link

supervisor_account Special programs team

celebration Get excited!

After your district has completed training, your SameGoal implementation team will continue to check in over the course of your first several months to ensure everything is running smoothly. Additional avenues of ongoing support available to all district users include:



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